The Gateway to the Soul
by ncpfan
Summary: She hated him at first, and was content to ignore him, just like the rest. Come and witness an amazing journey that began with a single moment of eye-contact. Watch as their mutual journey together becomes a love story for the ages! Naruto/Tsubaki - parent from very beginning of manga/anime, not Mizuki's girlfriend - FLUFF.
1. What's Really There? Part 1

**Hello All! To let you all know, To Really Know Someone is still being worked on, and an update is coming soon, but…this was a story that just wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to start on it. I've already got several chapters of it written, and I will post them within a reasonable time frame. I'm honestly not sure where the idea for this one came from, but as far as I know, it's an original idea in the world of Naruto fandom, so please enjoy: this is Naruto/Tsubaki (one of the two mothers that was glad Naruto didn't graduate at the beginning of the manga/anime).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The First Few Glances – What's Really There? (Part 1)**

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was sitting by himself on his usual swing in the Academy playground, staring down sadly. Heartbroken and frustrated at yet his third failed attempt to complete the Genin Graduation Exam, the blonde whisker-faced youth didn't have the energy or the enthusiasm to do anything else.

'_Why? Why does that one jutsu trip me up every time?'_ he asked himself in his frustration. As he sat there sadly, he couldn't help but overhear the conversations that the other kids in his class were having with their parents and families.

"Ha ha…passed it with flying colors."

"They called me first."

"I'm a genin!"

"I wish your grandma were here to see this. I'm proud of you son, we all are."

"Congratulations! I'm going to cook all your favorites tonight. We'll have a feast!"

This only served to remind Naruto of just how lonely he was. There was no family there to comfort him or let him know that everything would be OK. What made him even sadder was that even if he had passed, there would be nobody there to congratulate him, either. It was with these thoughts in mind that a particular conversation found its way into Naruto's ears.

"There, do you see him?" asked a feminine voice that was laced with a spiteful edge.

"It's that boy. I hear he's the only one who failed," another female voice responded, this one with not as sharp an edge, but rather laced with what seemed to be nervous fascination. Naruto now knew that they were talking about him. He raised his glance to see who they were.

"Hmph! Well, it serves him right," the spiteful woman responded back. Naruto noticed that this woman had the darker hair of the two, and had what appeared to be some kind of shawl wrapped around her forehead. She, like her companion, was dressed in the garb of a typical housewife: simple utilitarian dress with a shirt on underneath it. The scowl on her face gave one the impression that it was the usual expression she wore.

The other woman responded, "Just imagine if he became a ninja…I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Shhh!" the spiteful woman interrupted quickly, "We're not allowed to talk about that!"

'_What are they talking about? What did I do? Why do people ke__ep staring and glaring at me like that?'_ he thought to himself at what he overheard, his frustration now giving way to hurt and anger at the unfairness of it all. He picked his gaze up and looked directly at the two women who were quietly deriding him, making direct eye-contact with one of them.

He noticed that this woman was the prettier of the two. It was clear that she was a civilian, but given her slender build, one couldn't help but wonder if she might have at one time been a kunoichi. Her hair was brown also, but of a lighter shade than her companion's, and her head was unadorned. She wore a scowl that was similar to the spiteful woman's scowl, but wasn't quite so pronounced. Unlike the other woman, the nervous woman's scowl looked like it didn't belong there. As he continued looking right at her, he noticed a change in her posture and expression when they made eye-contact…

* * *

Tsubaki Kenpi kept her piece at her friend Ibara's sharp reminder about the law regarding that boy. She knew what he was. She knew what he carried inside him, and she, like so many others, was content to act as though he didn't exist. Every time she saw that boy in the village, she was reminded of that horrible night: the night that she, like so many others, had lost so many loved ones to the Nine-Tailed Fox's horrific attack. She had married young, as many kunoichi were wont to do. At the tender age of thirteen, her husband, who had been five years older than her, was a newly-promoted Jounin on the night the Nine-Tailed Fox had attacked.

The attack left her husband dead, and her alone to raise her two-month-old daughter Kasumi by herself. She had just made chunin at that time after four years in the Shinobi program; she had been a member of the last class to graduate early due to war. She'd had to retire so that she could raise her child, and her life had not been easy. Fortunately for her, when Sarutobi retook the mantle of Hokage, he had set up a fund for those who had been orphaned or widowed and made into single parents as a result of the catastrophe that struck the village.

Tsubaki knew Ibara had it just as bad, but Ibara had become much more embittered about how her life had turned out since that night. Ibara had never been particularly compassionate anyway, having been a bit of a bully during her Academy years – a path that her daughter, Ami, seemed to follow her in. As much as it saddened Tsubaki, she knew that Ibara would likely never change…and probably didn't want to.

She, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a medical field ninja, as she preferred helping people to hurting them. She remembered reading about the legendary Lady Tsunade's illustrious career as a genius medic and ninja during her time in the Academy, but what had intrigued her the most was Tsunade's proposal during the Second Great Shinobi War to institute a medical ninja in every squad. Tsubaki, herself, thought that this was an ingenious idea, and she never really understood why the idea was never adopted. If it had been, who knows how many lives could have been saved on the night of the Nine-Tails' attack.

It was shortly after this last thought that she noticed Naruto looking right at her. Her first impulse was to glare at him, but after a moment of looking directly into his eyes, she saw something she'd never seen before. Those blue eyes were so full of…sadness…pain…loneliness, to the point of almost complete isolation. Then she saw even more: frustration and anger that stemmed from the sadness, pain and loneliness that he felt. She'd seen those things in her own eyes so many times when she looked into a mirror. It was terrible to feel those things; it was even worse to recognize them when you looked into your own eyes…it made you wonder what others saw when they really looked at you. She always felt exposed when she saw those things in herself…but this was different.

She never saw those feelings to such an immense degree in her own eyes. Her face morphed into a confused, saddened frown, before settling into an ashamed one. She averted her eyes from the boy, unable to continue meeting his gaze anymore before she decided to look around for her own daughter. When Kasumi had come up to her, she gave her a phony smile and congratulated her, Kasumi being none the wiser as to what was really going on in her mother's heart and mind. Ibara had done the same with Ami when she had approached, although her smile and praise seemed more genuine than Tsubaki's had been. They all walked away to celebrate their daughters' accomplishment, but Tsubaki sent one last look Naruto's way, making eye-contact briefly once more, seeing something different this time: confusion and recognition? She quickly put it aside as she saw Mizuki-sensei making his way to Naruto, intent on talking to him about something…

* * *

Naruto became confused as the woman's face seemed to change. It started with a glare, but then turned into a frown…she became confused…then sad…then she seemed to avert her gaze.

'_Is she ashamed? And of what? She can't be ashamed of what she just __said about me, can she? Nobody's ever been ashamed of that…'_ he thought to himself in genuine confusion, trying to solve the puzzle just presented before him.

'_She's probably just ashamed of acknowledging my existence. The rest of the village would __rather I wasn't around, so that's got to be it…'_ he thought bitterly, believing he had solved his mystery.

Some prompting within him, however, told him to continue watching this woman…he didn't know what it was, and looking back, he could only chalk it up to her abnormal reaction to making eye-contact with him – when most made eye-contact with him, they usually glared icily, or angrily, but never guiltily. What made this woman so different?

Naruto watched with confused interest as one of his classmates, Kasumi, made her way to the woman, telling her "mom" how she graduated and how well she did on the Genin exam. She was with her friend Ami, who made her way to the spiteful woman and had the same conversation with her.

'_So that's where Ami gets it, huh?'_ Naruto thought rhetorically. Returning his attention to Kasumi and her mother, Naruto just continued watching. Mom's smile and praise of her daughter seemed forced…as though her guilt was really bothering her. Naruto couldn't wrap his head around it – why would that be?

As they left the grounds, Mom glanced back Naruto's way once more. Naruto's interest gave way to recognition. He could see it in her eyes – she knew how he felt, and it was that realization that made her feel ashamed. He was still a bit confused: after all, how many others looked him in the eye and didn't care? How many others reacted the same way Ami's mother did, believing that it served him right to fail and be alone?

His attention was diverted by his silver-haired chunin instructor's voice calling his name…

* * *

It was a fact that word spread quickly throughout the Hidden Leaf Village about…well, anything of interest to anybody. It became widely-known throughout adult circles that Naruto had been tricked by Mizuki that night into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. If some rumors were to be believed, he had learned an A-Rank Forbidden Kinjutsu from the scroll before being caught…and eventually used it to save Iruka-sensei's life.

As a result, he had been allowed to graduate…and for some reason, this had made Tsubaki smile. It made her smile even further when she heard that he was on the first Genin squad that Kakashi Hatake, of all people, had passed and taken on. It was as though Kami herself was giving the boy a break, as well as some vindication, from the labels and the treatment that people had given him…people like herself. Shame and guilt would come anew when she remembered how she used to treat him. She just couldn't get those haunted, lonely eyes out her mind.

As it was right now, she was going to and fro within the village, running errands here and there. Kasumi hadn't passed her Jounin sensei's test, and was now currently repeating her final year at the Academy with her best friend Ami. Since Sasuke Uchiha had graduated, Kasumi no longer seemed as focused as she was before…as though her reason for being there was now gone. Tsubaki feared for her daughter, and for Ami. She knew all too well that fangirls usually didn't last long as kunoichi; time and time again, she had seen or heard tale of fangirls being captured, abused, raped and killed…all the while, expecting and praying that their "knight in shining armor" would come and rescue them. She certainly didn't want Kasumi or Ami to end up like that. She only hoped that she and Ibara could talk their daughters out of this phase they were going through before it was too late.

Right now, the chances of that happening looked pretty bleak, mostly because Ibara and Ami weren't really on good talking terms since she failed her Genin test. Kasumi usually went in whatever direction Ami went. Ami just had that kind of presence – if she could focus her efforts and attentions constructively towards becoming a true kunoichi, she would likely do very well, becoming Chunin quickly. Ami could lead people, of that there was little doubt; it was just that she usually led them in bullying others.

There he was again…that boy, Naruto. She just watched as he and his two teammates suffered through a D-Rank mission: walking the Inuzuka Dogs. It would seem that whenever Naruto got involved in something, he jumped in with both feet. He was walking four dogs at once…all of which were as big as him or bigger. Now that she thought about it, any time she had seen him around in the month since he graduated, he always seemed to work that hard. He would use shadow clones to help with clean-up work, he would pull a greater load in each mission than the other two, he would also work with more enthusiasm and energy. It was as though he had something to prove…

She gasped at that_, 'Is this what we've driven him to? Does he work so hard to prove himself, just so we'll acknowledge his existence?'_

It was with that question in mind that she began looking around, seeing if anyone was paying him any mind or attention. She saw that they were paying him more attention than they were his teammates, but it was the kind of attention that they were paying him that struck her. People were looking at him with cold, icy glares, the occasional exception being a hate-filled, scornful glare from someone who felt more strongly towards him than most.

'_This just feels so wrong…he's just a kid. He doesn't deserve this – he's never done anything to hurt any of these people…'_ this thought led to another guilt-filled realization, _'…and not too long ago, I was no different. How would I feel in his shoes, with everyone in the village glaring at me like that day in and day out? How can he stand it?'_

She took a few moments to observe him a little more closely. She saw his posture and the look in his eyes, even through the goofy grin followed by the occasional teeth-gritting grunt as he was walking several very strong dogs. She could see that Naruto was aware of every glare and every ill intention being sent his way. And yet…he wasn't reacting. Curious as to why this was, she continued to observe and watch him.

At that moment, Naruto's gaze caught her own once more. That same flicker of recognition was there in his eyes. He remembered her. She almost averted her gaze as she felt her guilt and shame rising to the surface once more, but she squelched it, and offered him a weak smile and a small nod instead. Naruto frowned in what seemed to be confusion at this before being taken off his feet by his current mission and dragged through the streets, both his teammates yelling at him all the while…

* * *

'_I wonder why she smiled at me this time…'_ Naruto mused to himself after the dogs he was walking had finally stopped dragging him. Sakura had already bonked him on the head for being his typical knuckleheaded self and making their mission take longer, while Sasuke just smirked and gave him the typical barbs: loser, dead-last, idiot. Thinking about her smile, which he found to be quite becoming, now that he thought about it, brought a genuine smile to his face. It wasn't often that he received smiles from the villagers, and he found the experience to be quite…pleasant, to say the least.

Upon hearing his teammates calling his name, he pasted his phony grin back on his face before turning his attention to them and running in their direction so that they could get paid…

* * *

Tsubaki had heard the most astonishing rumor, and was dying to verify the truth of it. That Naruto boy was involved in the defeat of an A-Rank rogue ninja, and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to boot? Apparently, he played a pretty major role in it, too! As she talked with people and listened in on others, there was one thing that she noticed, and she was noticing it more and more these days: whenever there was a rumor of Naruto doing something good or performing some great deed, the almost-habitual response was disbelief. It was annoying her to no end; these people couldn't claim to know Naruto any better than she did! But here they were, jumping to the conclusion that Naruto couldn't have had anything to do with performing a service for the village – it was always about how he was a loser, or no good, or whatever the current nonsense happened to be.

When Tsubaki had gotten home from running her day-to-day errands, she sat down in her living room and thought to herself, _'Is that how I used to be? Was I __**that**__ bad? Did I talk about him the same __way? I don't remember saying too much about him, and I used to avoid talking about him or thinking about him, but…when I did, __was I saying the kinds of things that these people are saying, now?'_

As she pondered this, she found she didn't like the idea of having been that judgmental. Any time she saw him out and about now, she would offer a smile to him…and that simple gesture seemed to make his day. While grateful that she could be of such help to him, the wrongness of the whole situation bothered her – if a warm, friendly smile did that much for him…she was reminded of the hard truth that he didn't get that many friendly smiles, and from what she could see, he was a very friendly young man. She would see him spending time with the Honorable Grandson and his two friends, and even giving them some training in the form of "playing ninja". She had a few chances to listen to some of the advice that Naruto offered them from time to time, and was rather astounded at how wise his advice was.

The villagers were wrong about him! She had been wrong about him, and it was time that she did her part to try to put things right, or to at least clear up the labels and misconceptions that he had been unfairly given. She would make it a point from here on to either avoid such conversation, or in situations where it was unavoidable, to attempt to correct such errant viewpoints where she could…

* * *

'_This kid's amazing! Time and time again, he seems to pull major upsets and accomplish the impossible!'_ Tsubaki thought to herself as she just heard the latest: Naruto, the major underdog in the Chunin Exam preliminaries, had defeated his opponent Kiba Inuzuka. It would seem that Naruto always would be the Number One Unpredictable Ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village, whether for good or ill, whether because of his ability to pull off the most insane pranks imaginable or to make seemingly-impossible situations reality! It was with this in mind that her eye caught the boy once more, eating lunch at Ichiraku's ramen stand, and he was with someone.

'_Wait a minute…isn't that Master Jiraiya, the Toad Sage? I wonder what Naruto's doing with him…'_ she mused, intrigued by what she saw.

Apparently, the two of them were just finishing lunch as she saw them paying their bill.

"Alright, kid. Back to it!" she heard Jiraiya exclaim with gusto.

Naruto groaned in response, muttering something about lazy perverts being no help in training at all. It then occurred to Tsubaki – Jiraiya was training Naruto. This brought an astonished, yet grateful smile to her lips. It was great for Naruto that someone finally seemed to be taking a positive proactive interest in him, and it was even better that the interested party was none other than Master Jiraiya, arguably the strongest Hidden Leaf ninja alive! As she walked off, she once again made eye contact with Naruto…and once again, there was that flicker of recognition in his eyes, but this time a small smile followed.

She smiled back, and this time offered him a shy wave with the fingers of her right hand. Naruto's smile widened as he waved back before leaving to catch up with Jiraiya…

* * *

Tsubaki and Ibara were sitting together at the Chunin Exam Finals. Things had become a bit tense between the two of them in the past few months, over a couple of sensitive topics: their daughters' lack of proper preparation for the shinobi world, and Naruto Uzumaki. It was Naruto that was the focus of their thoughts right now, as they were both watching him fight Neji Hyuuga…and he was once again the underdog.

"I still don't get why they let that…punk…graduate and be a Genin!" Ibara said in her usual spiteful tone, this time with a darker, almost hateful edge.

"You know, I really don't get you anymore, Ibara!" Tsubaki exclaimed, her frustration finally reaching its limit, "What do you have against him? He's never done anything to you! He's never done anything hurtful or bad to anyone in this village! The most he's done that might be considered trouble is pull off harmless pranks, and since he's been a ninja, he's done nothing but serve this village! He works harder at his missions than any other Genin I've ever seen! So…answer me: what do you have against him?"

Ibara looked at her friend in shock. Where had this come from? She always agreed with her before about that good-for-nothing punk!

"What do you mean, 'what do I have against him?'? You were there that night. You lost your husband, too!" Ibara responded in indignation, fortunately being drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

"And just how is that Naruto's fault, huh? Did he ask to be born that night? Did he ask to have his…**resident**…sealed inside of him? Has Naruto ever shown that he's anything like his **resident** at any time?" Tsubaki asked indignantly, taking care to use certain catchwords to make her point while not breaking the law, "Does Naruto behave like that in any way? Have you ever taken just a few moments to watch him? Or is it just easier for you to blame him for what your life is like right now instead of taking responsibility and moving on?"

Ibara looked stricken at that. Not having an answer, Ibara grew sullen and angry, bringing her attention back to the match. Tsubaki did the same, only to watch as Neji got into stance for his next attack – the Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms.

"Hmph! Let's see that punk get himself out of this one…" Ibara said, in her usual spiteful tone as Neji opened up on Naruto, striking him with precision and closing off his tenketsu points, cutting him off from his chakra. Tsubaki gritted her teeth angrily at her friend's unwarranted spite. As Naruto went down, Ibara seemed to smirk in satisfaction, only to grit her teeth as he got up again!

Tsubaki, on the other hand, began to worry for the boy. She breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto got to his feet and showed that he intended to continue fighting. Both she and her companion began to get nervous, however, when Naruto seemed to start drawing on the Nine-Tails' chakra.

'_What's going to happen now?'_ Tsubaki thought worriedly. Ibara simply sat there, glaring at Naruto in fearful anger.

They both continued watching as Naruto maintained control of himself, continuing his fight with Neji, which ultimately ended with both of them knocking each other across the stadium with enough force to make craters in the stadium grounds. As Neji got out of his crater and stumbled over to Naruto, Ibara chuckled darkly, while Tsubaki worried for Naruto while at the same time hoping that Naruto would get back up. After hearing Neji's diatribe about the reality of a failure, and then watching Naruto explode from the ground and connect with a strong uppercut, knocking Neji into the air and backwards about thirty feet, she grinned ecstatically. Somehow, she knew that Naruto would pull off a victory, and she was happy beyond words to be proven right. It was what happened next, however, that would burn itself into her memory forever…and begin to awaken feelings she never thought she would have toward the boy.

Naruto responded to Neji's embittered acknowledgment of his defeat, "For the record, I failed the graduation exam three times…cuz there was this one jutsu…that was always on the exam…and it tripped me up _every time_. It was the one jutsu…that I just couldn't master."

Tsubaki was listening intently, hanging on every word that came out of his mouth. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she had to know what he would say.

Naruto continued, "My clones were pathetic…that's right, I flunked the Shadow Clone Jutsu every time. So don't come whining to me with this destiny stuff…and stop trying to tell me you can't change what you are. You can do it, too, cuz after all, unlike me, _you'r__e_ not a _failure_."

The proctor called the match, declaring Naruto the winner. The crowd erupted in applause, giving Naruto the standing ovation he greatly deserved. Tsubaki, one of the very first to stand, began to cry, overwhelmed with admiration towards Naruto, and still feeling a bit ashamed of herself at how she once agreed with Ibara about him.

She clapped fervently, grinning widely, and lost in her own thoughts, _'Naruto…how could I have been so blind? How could I have looked down my nose at someone __who has such incredible strength of character? Who are you, Naruto Uzumaki? I don't know…but I mean to find out.'_

With this, she resolved to seek him out after the Chunin Exams were over. She still didn't know why, nor did she even know what she would say to him once she found him, but for some reason, she felt compelled to seek him out. She found herself evaluating the fight between Naruto and Neji, and what struck her the most were the differences between their characters, perspectives and viewpoints.

Neji had been callous, cruel and arrogant, looking down his nose at Naruto, never bothering to even call him by his name, instead using names such as "loser", "failure", "worthless", and "impudent little brat". What made it worse was that Neji's arrogance had drawn the rest of the audience in, as well. Naruto had been completely written off as the loser of the fight by this crowd, simply because Neji's overconfidence had drawn the crowd to this conclusion.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't back down, but never did he respond even in kind to Neji. Even now, when Naruto had more than earned the right to gloat over his clearly defeated opponent, he wasn't doing so! There was no disrespect or condescension in his voice at all; he was a gracious winner, and even went so far as to try to spur Neji on to change and better himself.

Tsubaki looked over at Ibara once more, and her smile dropped at what she saw. Ibara hadn't gotten up with everyone else. She hadn't even applauded Naruto's hard-earned victory, but rather just sat there with her arms folded on front of her and the same ever-present scowl on her face. This time, though, she could see a trace of shame in Ibara's eyes as well. Ibara was looking downward slightly, as though she knew she was wrong to have such hateful anger towards Naruto, but was still unwilling to let it go.

'_Maybe it's time that I reevaluate my friendship with Ibara,'_ Tsubaki thought to herself, disappointed that Ibara could hate someone…a child, no less…that much, especially knowing that she had no right to hate him at all. Again, this was accompanied by her own feelings of guilt, not having realized it sooner, or even paying attention to this aspect of her friend's nature that she now found quite unsettling.

After sitting down, Ibara growled out sullenly, "Why do you like him so much?"

Tsubaki turned to Ibara and responded plainly, "Because I actually dared to look him in the eye…and I saw a hurt, anguished, lonely and confused young boy. I saw the same things in his eyes that I often see in my own eyes every time I look in the mirror, except that they were magnified in his. I know how he feels because of the things that have been done to him, and I'm amazed at how well he stands up under them! Neither of us would have survived in his place, Ibara – Remember that!"

Ibara glared at her friend for a moment longer before once more sullenly looking downward. Both of them sat there in silence throughout the rest of the matches until Sasuke Uchiha's chidori struck Gaara of the Desert through his sand shield, and a genjutsu was cast upon the stadium, causing both of them to fall asleep…

* * *

Tsubaki and her daughter Kasumi were both dressed in black, the expected attire for mourning in public at a funeral. Both of them were shedding silent tears…so much damage, so many losses. So much had happened in the Leaf in the three days since the Chunin Exams. The village had been invaded by both the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Sound. The invasion had been repelled, with Naruto himself taking out the most dangerous opponent in a fully-transformed Gaara…by summoning none other than the Chief Toad Gamabunta himself! The cost, however, was high: so many Leaf shinobi were killed in the battle, foremost among the casualties being Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The only event that Tsubaki could even compare it to was the aftermath of the Nine-Tails' Attack, there was that much destruction. The funeral service for all of those shinobi who had fallen during the invasion was in full swing, but Tsubaki was distracted by thoughts of a certain blond boy that she'd caught sight of as he arrived with his teammates and went to the roof of Hokage Tower, where shinobi in the village and the Third's family and friends were mourning in a reserved area. Her heart nearly broke when she saw the state he was in, and she couldn't get that image out of her mind.

This was the first time she'd ever seen him injured, as he had gauze taped to his forehead and both of his cheeks, as well as a few other bandages on his body, but it was his expression that struck her more than anything else. He looked sadder and more heartbroken than she could ever remember seeing him…even when she made eye-contact with him at the Academy. It was a look that she just wanted to take away from him.

It was with these thoughts preoccupying her that she suddenly noticed that the service was over. She saw Naruto with his teammates and sensei leaving the tower together. Tsubaki thought for a moment to approach Naruto as she had resolved to do during the Chunin Exam Finals, but decided not to as she saw him comforting and being comforted by some friends and comrades.

'_It wouldn't be appropriate right now. Kasumi needs me more, and his friends need him more as well. I can approach him later,'_ she thought as she attended to her and her daughter's grief.

After the ceremony had ended, Kasumi had returned home on her own, while Naruto and his team had already left in order to get back to duty. As Team Seven walked away, she saw that Iruka hadn't yet left.

'_I have seen Naruto and Iruka together a lot. They're pretty close from what I can gather…maybe Iruka can tell me a little bit about him,'_ she mused before walking up to Iruka to indulge her curiosity about Naruto.

"Excuse me…Iruka?" she asked in order to garner the Chunin instructor's attention.

He turned his head in her direction, "Tsubaki? Tsubaki Kenpi?" he asked before smiling, "Wow, it's certainly been a while. How are you…all things considered?"

Tsubaki smiled in response, "I'm doing OK. How are you?"

"I'm alright, all in all."

Tsubaki nodded, "That's good to hear. Ermm…listen, I was wondering…how well do you know Naruto Uzumaki?"

Iruka frowned curiously, "Hmm…that's pretty random."

"Well, maybe…but I…well, I was just hoping I could learn a little more about him beyond what most people here in the village have to say."

Iruka's frown went from curious to saddened, "Yeah, it's true that generally people in the village aren't fair to him. But why not just ask him yourself?"

"A couple of reasons: one is that either of us or both of us are too busy for me to be able to approach him and have a conversation of any length with him. But…the truth is that…even if I did have the chance to talk to him…" Tsubaki paused, a dejected frown adorning her own features as she finished, "…I wouldn't even know what to say."

Iruka's curiosity made itself known once more, both across his face and in his voice, "Tsubaki, what prompted you to want to learn more about him? I'm guessing that there's more to this than the Chunin Exams and the invasion…"

Tsubaki told him her story, beginning from when she and Ibara saw him on the swing by himself after he had failed the Academy for the third time, continuing through the other times she had encountered him and seen him, and ending with her decision to seek him out and try to talk to him. Iruka seemed grateful that at least one person had changed their opinion of Naruto without him having to do something to change it. There were those in the village who had never been unfair to Naruto, such as the Ichiraku Family, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi, and most recently, Jiraiya. Sadly, though, they were very few, and very far between.

Even Iruka had been unfair to him at first, not wanting anything to do with him because, like so many, he was reminded of what happened with his parents on that horrible night some thirteen years ago. He couldn't help but think on how he and Naruto had bonded once he had first seen just how truly lonely and anguished the boy was that night in the cemetery…the words that Naruto had yelled at him sometimes still echoed in his mind…

"_I'm not a nuisance…and I'm not some kind of germ! I have a name! My name is Naruto Uzumaki!"_

Tsubaki was the first person he had talked to who had changed her opinion of Naruto simply because she saw a lonely human being, not because he did something spectacular, confrontational, or anything like that.

"You know, it's funny…" Iruka began in response to her, "…as close as Naruto and I are now, it took Naruto getting in my face and yelling at me before I saw him as more than a simple reminder of the Nine-Tails. Did you know that I was assigned as a teacher originally by the Third because he wanted someone in Naruto's life that could help him?"

Tsubaki frowned in curious surprise, shaking her head, "No, I didn't know that."

Iruka smiled nostalgically, relaying the tale of how he and Naruto grew close: how at first, he ignored him and acted like he didn't matter, how Kakashi told him that the reason he needed to somehow reach Naruto was because he was the only one who could, the night at the graveyard where Naruto had told him that he was no longer going to attend classes, and how Naruto had gone out on a dare from one of his peers into a combat zone and had almost gotten killed.

"The only reason he accepted that dare was because he was so lonely…and they told him they'd be his friends if he did it. It's amazing how you saw it and he didn't even need to say anything to you…" he finished as he turned his gaze back towards her, intent on telling Tsubaki what she wanted to know, "…he's lonely, still. I only wish I had more time to give to him, now. I love him like a little brother…" he smiled at the thought before continuing, "…Naruto's a truly unique and amazing person. He never gives up, either on himself, or on anyone else. Once he sets his mind to something, he'll stop at nothing to achieve it…and his goals are so…lofty and noble. Of course, you know that he's determined to one day be Hokage, right?"

Tsubaki nodded.

"Well, let me tell you…" Iruka continued, "…the more I see him, and the more I watch him grow…I can't help but think that one day he's going to do it."

Tsubaki's eyebrows shot up in surprise upon hearing this.

Iruka pressed on, "The truth is that so many people write him off at best, or outright hate him at worst, but he has this strange…power, for lack of a better word…but it seems to fit because he's the only person I've ever known who's like this: You can't get to truly know Naruto and not eventually come to like or love him; he can become friends with anyone, it doesn't matter who they are, or where they're from. He's also fiercely protective and loyal towards his friends and loved ones."

Iruka turned his gaze in the direction that Naruto had walked off in as he finished, "Tsubaki…if you want to know what to say to him, just…say whatever comes to mind. If you can't think of anything to say, knowing Naruto the way I do and judging from what you've told me, he'll somehow find a way to start a conversation."

Tsubaki pondered his words for a while before nodding, "Iruka, thank you…for your advice. I think I'll do that."

Before long, both of them said their farewells to each other, Iruka leaving to prepare for class the following day, Tsubaki on her way home to begin preparing dinner for herself and her daughter. Thoughts of just what she might say to Naruto once she encountered him racing through her mind…

* * *

**And that's Chapter 1. As you've likely noticed, I'm trying to write chapters of a more reasonable length as well. Please review. Do you like it so far? Do you think the idea has potential? I'd love to know! So please, please, please review!**


	2. What's Really There? Part 2

**It's encouraging to see that this little story is already receiving some fanfare! Thanks for reading, everyone. Also, to those of you who have marked this as a favorite, I do appreciate it, but I would greatly appreciate reviews even more – I want to know what you think about how I'm handling this story, so please review for me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: A Few More Glances – What's Really There? (Part 2)**

* * *

She was back! Lady Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, the Queen of Elixirs and Slugs, the World's Greatest Medic, was back in the Hidden Leaf, and she was going to be the Fifth Hokage! Tsubaki had tried to find Naruto after her conversation with Iruka, but by the time she'd finally tracked him down, Master Jiraiya had already taken him out of the village on some kind of training trip or something! Now, though, the stories were flying about how Naruto was with Jiraiya and Tsunade when they faced down Orochimaru, and about how it was ultimately Naruto who convinced Tsunade to come back to the village to be Hokage.

Tsubaki's hero was back, and it was Naruto who brought her home! It was reported that they were a short distance away from the village gates, and they would be walking through the streets any minute now on their way to the Hokage Tower. Tsubaki was waiting in eager anticipation, not only to see her hero again, but to see Naruto as well, who was becoming a bit of a hero to her as well.

Shortly afterwards, the sounds of cheering could be heard from the direction of the village gates. They had arrived! The cheering grew louder as those closer to Tsubaki caught sight of Tsunade and party. It wasn't much longer before Tsubaki saw them, and there was Naruto running up to walk right alongside them all sporting a mile-wide grin. Tsubaki noticed that this grin wasn't like the phony, goofy grin she'd see on his face when she usually watched him; he was genuinely happy at that moment! She smiled at this, as from what she could tell from her observations of the boy, as well as what she learned about him from her conversation with Iruka, genuine happiness was something Naruto rarely experienced.

Tsubaki began to cheer with everyone around her as the party drew near. She made her way to the front of the crowd so that she could get a better look at Naruto. She saw that the young blond must have noticed her movement out of the corner of his eye, as he turned towards her the moment she emerged toward the front. Smiling even wider, and nodding and waving at him again, he closed his eyes and waved back once more before turning his attention back towards the trio that he was following. Tsubaki noticed that a few of those around her started looking her way, mostly in confusion, probably wondering how she and Naruto seemed to know each other. She just shrugged it off and continued cheering with everyone else…

* * *

Tsubaki was frantic with worry! Naruto had just been brought back to the village by Kakashi…and from what people knew, he was very badly injured! Apparently, Sasuke Uchiha had either defected from the village to join Orochimaru, or he'd been kidnapped and forcibly taken to him, and Naruto was one of those who were sent to bring him back home. When she had heard tale of his injuries, and that he had just been brought in and admitted to the ICU of Hidden Leaf Hospital, she started running all over town, talking to anyone she knew and trying to find out as much as she could.

'_What happened? How did he get hurt so badly? Just how badly is he hurt?' _she kept asking herself over and over again. Even her daughter had taken notice of how out-of-character she seemed to be acting, and as Kasumi wasn't the most perceptive girl on the planet, this spoke volumes concerning Tsubaki's current state, more to herself than to anyone else. She didn't care; the only thing she cared about was finding out about how Naruto was doing, and seeing if she could help him in any way.

After finding out very little on the streets, she decided to go to the hospital to see what she could learn. When she spoke to the reception desk in the main lobby, the attendant seemed quite saddened and worried herself. She informed Tsubaki that more information could be gleaned from the reception area in the Intensive Care Ward before telling her how to get there. Thanking the woman for her information and directions, she immediately proceeded to the ICU to gather what other information she could.

When she arrived, she found the ward to be a whirlwind of activity! With how quickly all of the staff and orderlies were running to and fro, she could only draw one conclusion: Naruto apparently wasn't the only new arrival. Tsubaki sat in the lobby and waited for things to settle down.

Two hours of waiting later, several exhausted orderlies and one exhausted nurse who was acting as the ward's receptionist returned to the main waiting station. Tsubaki went to the front desk to inquire about Naruto's condition.

The receptionist, a lime-green-haired woman around Tsubaki's age whose name tag read "Isako", seemed surprised, "You're the first one to ask about him. Do you have any kind of relationship to him?"

"Well, no…" Tsubaki responded in a subdued manner, "…I'm just a concerned party is all. My daughter and him were in the same class at the Academy. Can you tell me how he is?"

The newly-identified Isako broke down his injuries for the woman: two separate piercings through his right lung by either a large, wide weapon or a jutsu of some sort, chakra depletion, a fractured skull, several broken and displaced ribs, six fractured cervical vertebrae, severe blood loss and a cleanly-fractured left tibia. Tsubaki gasped at the severity of his injuries and began to cry, but Isako reassured her.

"Don't worry…" Isako said calmly to show her reassurance, "…his tenant apparently heals his body at an accelerated rate. Most of his injuries are already healing – from what we hear from Lady Tsunade, he'll be out for a few days, but he should be up and around after about a week or so."

Tsubaki nodded gratefully, sniffling in an effort to slow her tears, "Thank you. When are visiting hours?"

"Well…people won't be able to enter his room for at least two days, but after that, normal visiting hours apply: Six AM to Ten PM…" Isako smiled, "…anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you so much. You've put me at ease. I'm just glad to hear that he'll be OK. I'll be by in a couple of days to bring him some flowers."

Isako smiled once more, "You're welcome. And don't you worry: if there's one thing we all know in this ward, it's that Naruto Uzumaki's a fighter – he'll pull through this, and he'll walk out of here right as rain."

Tsubaki smiled in response, finally reassured that he would be OK, "Thanks, again; that's good to know…and it's good to know that he's well cared for, here."

With that, they parted company, with Tsubaki on her way out to take care of her usual day-to-day business…

* * *

Three days later, a cool, partly cloudy morning found Tsubaki leaving a clothing store, having just bought a tracksuit similar to the one that Naruto enjoyed wearing. When she saw it, she thought that it would be something that Naruto would like, especially with how what he'd been wearing when he was brought back in was probably in tatters and ribbons. The pants were the same orange color as what he normally wore, but the jacket was slightly different – instead of being mostly orange with dark-blue across his shoulders, this jacket was orange on most of the torso, but black up top. The black in the new jacket didn't just cross his shoulders and upper chest, though; the sleeves were also black, and the zipper line of the jacket was also solid black, about two inches out from each side of the zipper. It was also a bit big for him, but she figured he would grow into it once he hit his growth spurt. The tracksuit was in a clothing box and wrapped as a present.

A few moments later found her at her next destination – the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Entering the store, she heard the bell chime as the door moved, alerting the attendant on duty that a customer was entering. A moment later, one Ino Yamanaka came jogging into the sales floor.

"Hello, welcome to the Yamanaka Flow…oh hey, you're Kasumi's mother, aren't you?" she piped out inquisitively with a smile.

"Yes, Ino, that's right," Tsubaki responded, returning the girl's smile, "I'm here to get a small bouquet for a hospital patient."

"OK, well, give me a minute to put something together for you," Ino responded cheerfully. Tsubaki waited patiently, watching Ino work. If it was one thing the girl knew well, it was how to put together a beautiful floral arrangement – Kasumi had complained to her mother about Ino's talent in that regard when they took the Kunoichi-only classes together in the Academy. The bouquet was a beautiful circle of white lilies surrounding a single sunflower in the center, all placed into a vase – Tsubaki requested a particular bright orange one that caught her eye.

"So, who's the patient you're going to see?" Ino asked curiously.

"Oh, no one you need worry over…" Tsubaki responded tactfully, "…and thanks for preparing this for me."

"You're welcome," Ino responded with a smile, hiding her disappointment well. Tsubaki quickly paid for her bouquet and left, wishing Ino a good day on the way out. Ino responded in kind before resuming the tasks of keeping the store presentable and the merchandise fresh.

Half an hour later, Tsubaki entered the hospital and made her way directly to the Intensive Care Ward, gift and flowers in hand. When she arrived, she saw that Isako was on duty now as well. She saw Tsubaki and recognized her immediately. With a smile, she stood up and bade Tsubaki follow her, leading her directly to Naruto's room. As they approached the room, Isako stopped and turned to Tsubaki.

"Brace yourself…" she warned, "…Naruto's pretty banged up right now. But I promise you, he **will** be fine. Okay? In fact…" she extended her hands in Tsubaki's direction, "Why don't you let me hold those for now?"

Tsubaki nodded nervously, afraid of what she might see once the door was opened and she was admitted in. Handing the vase and present to Isako, she opened the door herself and entered the room. Upon sighting the patient that she was there for, she gasped and cried out in surprise and horror, bringing her hands up to her mouth.

There on the bed, in a hospital gown, was Naruto. The crown of his head was wrapped in bandages, patches of blood having leaked through here and there. His face was severely bruised and swollen in places, freckled with scratches and gashes. In his mouth was a plastic tube that could be followed to a respirator, assisting him in his breathing. His left thigh was in a cast and elevated by a harness. The parts of his upper body that were not covered by the gown were wrapped in bandages, again with blood seeping through in various places. On the right side of his chest, blood had seeped through the gauze she could tell was underneath the gown, and even into the gown itself. IV tubes were secreting various chemicals into his body in various places, and diodes were taped onto him, allowing various vital readings, such as blood pressure, pulse, oxygen levels and brain activity to be displayed. A brace was on his neck, holding his head firmly in place.

Tsubaki couldn't stop the tears that began to flow. Isako placed the vase and the wrapped box down on a counter before turning to address her, "I know it looks bad…"

"Looks bad?" Tsubaki turned to her, eyes wide in dumbfounded astonishment. Her voice rose several octaves as she repeated, "Looks bad? He looks like he shouldn't even be alive! How can you be so calm about this?"

"I've seen him in worse shape…" Isako admitted quietly, putting a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder, "…I don't like seeing him like this any more than you do, but, believe me when I say, he'll be okay. He won't even scar over from this. Just watch: this time next week, he'll be discharged with a clean bill of health and walk out of here without any sign of injury…" she developed an amused smirk as she added, "…though he'll actually sneak out of here before then and head straight to Ichiraku's. He really doesn't handle forced bed rest well," she finished with a chuckle.

Tsubaki visibly calmed down at this, "So, you're really not worried?"

Isako smiled and shook her head, "No, we're not. We know for a fact that he'll be fine. And we're going to make his recovery as quick and as comfortable as possible in the meantime."

Tsubaki turned her gaze back to Naruto to regard him once more, "You said you've seen him in worse shape than this…how is that possible?"

"Well…" Isako began sadly, "…there was one incident when he was just a small boy where he was beaten…severely. It…happened on his sixth birthday, and…well, some people decided that ignoring him simply wasn't enough that year. A few drunks decided that they would be 'crusaders' that year, and end the blight left by the Nine-Tails attack. They beat Naruto to near-death…and…" her voice began to break as she started to recall what was done to the small, malnourished blond child that had been brought in for emergency treatment. Her reaction was not lost on Tsubaki as she turned to her and continued, "…please don't ask me to tell you what they did to him; they did…unspeakable things. They did things that were so bad that the memories of them weren't just sealed within Naruto's mind – they were removed entirely by Inoichi Yamanaka himself. The Third punished those responsible so severely that he only told us that the information was classified. The medical records and charts from that attack were also classified and…I think they were destroyed."

Tsubaki found herself in tears once more. She didn't want to imagine what those…monsters…could have done to this boy. She'd never ask him, as from what Isako had just said, he had no memory of it at all, even deeply buried, and she'd never pursue the matter anyway; she was afraid of what she'd find. She then turned back to Naruto and studied him once more.

"Don't worry…" Isako spoke up once again, "…he'll never remember that incident, and there are no visible scars anywhere on him from it. Like I said, though – we've seen him in worse shape, and he's pulled through before. He'll pull through good as new."

Tsubaki looked at the woman again. Seeing the confidence in her eyes brought Tsubaki great comfort this time. She smiled at Isako in gratitude before turning back to Naruto. As Isako left the room, Tsubaki slowly walked toward him. She stopped at his bedside and brought her hands up to his sleeping face, gently caressing it in an affectionate manner.

She leaned down slowly and carefully towards his ear and spoke, "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I'm glad you're going to be alright. I know you don't hear this anywhere near as much as you deserve to, but…thank you. Thank you so much…for everything that you do for us, here in the village."

As she finished, she planted a slow, lingering kiss on his cheek, just off of his mouth. After several seconds, she pulled away, tears of gratitude, both to him, and to whatever Kami was watching over him, pouring down her face. She smiled – a warm, loving, affectionate smile – as she pulled away, her fingers stroking his cheeks as she pulled off. She left the room, the receptionist smiling just as warmly as Tsubaki herself was.

'_Maybe it's time I returned to active duty and pursued that dream I had of being a medical __ninja again,'_ Tsubaki mused to herself, thinking on the idea of making herself useful once again.

Had they stayed in Naruto's room a moment longer, they would have noticed a single tear roll down the side of his face, and that his lips had turned upward into a very weak, barely-noticeable smile…

* * *

Ino Yamanaka had just been relieved of her shift at the shop by her mother. Her next destination was the hospital to visit Chouji and Naruto, both of whom she had heard were in the Intensive Care Ward, though Shikamaru informed her Chouji had been moved into a regular ward as he was out of immediate danger. Naruto, five days after being admitted into ICU, had not regained consciousness yet. On her way out, she picked up a flower for each of them.

When she arrived at the hospital, she decided to go to Naruto's room, first, as she knew it wouldn't be a long visit. Receiving directions from the front desk, and later from Isako in ICU, she made her way to Naruto's room. As she entered and laid eyes on Naruto, she gasped. Even though she had steeled herself in anticipation of serious injury, she simply couldn't believe what was done to him. She didn't know the details of his mission or of the opponent he fought that gave him these injuries - as a Genin, she wasn't privy to such information – but she couldn't imagine how…or even why…a person would beat an opponent so badly instead of just killing them quickly.

Shaking off her shock, she placed her flower in the empty white standard vase that was a Hidden Leaf hospital room mainstay. She placed her hand on Naruto's near shoulder and said quietly, "Get better soon, okay? This village isn't as happy a place without you running around."

As she turned to leave, she caught sight of the same orange vase and flower bouquet that she had sold to Kasumi's mother a couple of days earlier, as well as the gift-wrapped box that she had seen the woman carrying.

Frowning in thought, she asked herself, _'How does Kasumi's mom know Naruto? I didn't know she cared this much about him…'_

After thinking about it for a few moments, she decided to let it go. She had seen the way that a lot of people in the village had looked at Naruto, and she'd also heard the whispers. She decided that it wasn't important why someone like Kasumi's mother, who she thought had disliked the blond, now cared about him; what was important was that she cared now. Nodding to herself, and satisfied with her conclusion, she left Naruto's room to go visit Chouji and keep him company for a while…

* * *

Naruto finally woke up. He had no idea how long he'd been out for; the only thing he knew was that he hurt…a lot. As his eyes adjusted themselves to the light in the room, flashes of what had happened prior to waking up here started coming back to him. Sasuke…his curse seal…horrid, monstrous hand-like wings on his back…his skin having that sickly gray pallor…a Chidori being shoved through his chest…being pile-drived from several-hundred feet up…from there, it got a little hazy, as he could only remember seeing red. Not wanting to dwell on these images any longer, he tried to look around and get his bearings, only to discover that he couldn't turn his head.

After a while, he figured out that he could at lease roll his body just a little, allowing him to use his eyes to cover the remaining angles so that he could see the room he was in. He took in the various trappings and fixtures of the room, and it dawned on him that he was in the hospital. At that moment, the smells of sterilization and medicines seemed to make themselves knows, as did the blips and bleeps of various medical monitors and devices. He could hear the bleeps beginning to vary in rhythm and tone, indicating changes in readings and activity.

Before long, the door opened, and Isako entered the room with a smile, "Hi, Naruto. It's good to see that you're back with us."

"Yeah…hi Isako," he responded, depressed.

"Oh, come on, why the long face?" she asked cheerfully, "You're okay, all of your friends made it back safely…some a little worse for wear than others, but alive and safe now…doesn't that make you happy?"

"But we failed our mission," he answered in the same numb tone, "And now Sasuke's gone to Orochimaru."

Isako walked up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry about that, Naruto. But at least you have a chance now to go back out after him. I'm just glad you're alright, because you were really banged up when Kakashi brought you in. And you've never been out this long, either."

Naruto frowned at this, "How long was I out for?"

"You were brought here six days ago. The combination of both your injuries and chakra exhaustion is why you've been out for so long."

"And I've been out the whole time?"

Isako nodded, "Naruto, you had several injuries that would have been fatal for anyone that isn't you."

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, "Well, I guess this fox in my gut's good for something, huh?"

Isako responded, "Yeah, I guess it is. So out of curiosity, when did you find out about that?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me the night Iruka-sensei made me a Genin."

Isako nodded with a smile, "Well, we're just glad you're alright, sweetie. Let me run a few quick scans, here…" she began to trail off while performing the Mystical Palm Jutsu, her hands glowing green after performing the hand signs, as she continued, "…so that we can maybe get you out of some of these bandages and restraints and clean you up a little, huh?"

Naruto didn't say anything. He simply closed his eyes sadly while Isako worked. When she was done, she informed him of her findings, "Well, the neck brace can come off, and so can the cast on your leg and some of these bandages. The rest of the bandages need to be changed out for clean ones, so I'll take care of that, too."

Isako took her time removing what was no longer necessary so as not to aggravate any of his still-healing injuries. After removing the brace, cast and the unnecessary bandaging, she took the time to change out the rest of his bandaging and gauze.

Once she was done, Isako spoke up once more, "Lady Tsunade will be around shortly to check on you, herself. She's been worried about you."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at this, even if his smile was small. It was nice to know that people worried about him.

"You've also had a few visitors."

"Really? Who?"

"Well, there was Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Tsubaki Kenpi."

"Tsubaki Kenpi?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah…does that surprise you?"

"Well, it's just that I don't know a Tsubaki Kenpi…"

She hummed in thoughtful surprise at his response, "Well, she's the one who brought you the gift and the flowers in the orange vase that are on your nightstand, there. She did say that she was just a concerned party…" Isako's eyes lit up in realization as she remembered one particular detail, "…she mentioned that you were in her daughter's graduating class."

Naruto frowned in thought before picturing one honey-brown-haired woman's face, _'Could it be Kasumi's mom?'_

Isako brought him out of his musings as she offered, "Well, let's help you get to the bathroom, huh?"

She assisted him out of his bed and supported him into the bathroom so he could empty himself. Once he was done, she helped him back into bed and updated the chart that was on the clipboard hanging at the foot of bed.

"Well, I'll leave you be for now. The Hokage will be here shortly, okay?"

Naruto nodded with a weak smile as Isako left the room. Left to himself, he looked at the vase and the gift-wrapped box on his nightstand. There was also a get-well card sitting on them. Picking up the card, he opened it and read the hand-written message inside…

_Naruto,_

_I know you don't know me, but I'm glad to hear that you're going to be alright. I hope you like the gift I brought for you – it's a little big for you right now, but I know you'll grow into it in no time at all. I hope you get better quickly, and I also want to thank you for everything you do for this village, much of which we don't deserve from you. You're in my thoughts and prayers. Please, take care._

_Tsubaki Kenpi_

Naruto was touched by the card's contents. His eyes welled up in joyful gratitude at the gesture. He put the card down and picked up the gift box. Tearing off the paper, he opened it to see a track suit similar to the one he normally wore, but with more black in the jacket. He thought it was the coolest thing ever…but boy, that Tsubaki lady wasn't kidding when she said it was a little big. Regardless, she got him a present, and grow into it, he would!

He placed the track suit back into the box and closed it up. A smile adorned his face as he waited for Tsunade to show up…

* * *

True to Isako's prediction, Naruto had sneaked out of the hospital for a trip to Ichiraku Ramen. Four days after her visit to his room, Tsubaki saw Naruto, still in bandages all over his body, literally being dragged out of his culinary haven by those same bandages by none other than Lady Tsunade's apprentice Shizune. In addition to the bandages, however, he had also been wrapped in a straight-jacket. Naruto was protesting loudly that he was fine, and that he felt fine, while Shizune was firmly telling him that he wasn't, regardless of what he said. Shizune also added, somewhat teasingly, that she would allow Naruto to get some ramen "once he was all healed," to which Naruto protested even more loudly, saying that he was fully healed already.

Tsubaki couldn't help but laugh heartily at the comical scene being played out before her. At the same time, she was relieved that he was conscious, and he didn't seem to have any overt signs of the injuries he had suffered just one week ago. It made her happy to see that he was in good spirits, and that he wasn't letting the things that happened to him get him down. Having caught the infectious smile that Naruto always gave her once more, she continued about her business with a noticeable spring in her step…

* * *

Tsubaki, for the past several months, had thrown herself into training to get her conditioning back to where it once was. Part of this was just to be of service to the village, but it was also to inspire both Kasumi and Ami to put forth greater effort by showing them what a real kunoichi trained like. Kasumi and Ami did start to notice, but the way they saw Tsubaki working herself into the ground in order to get into top form once again actually had the opposite effect on the girls: instead of being inspired, it terrified them both. Whenever Tsubaki offered to allow them to train with her, they both steadfastly refused, disappointing Tsubaki greatly.

More and more often found the girls with Ibara more than Tsubaki these days. Kasumi would come home to eat and sleep, and also to get help with her homework, but for the most part, mother and daughter didn't talk much anymore. It wasn't too much longer before the girls did graduate, this time passing the second Genin exam and officially becoming Genin. This actually prompted Kasumi and Ami to move out of their mothers' houses and get an apartment together. Kasumi, for some reason, didn't really bother coming around, anymore. Tsubaki could only guess it was because Kasumi needed to keep her own little idealistic view of what it meant to be a kunoichi up for as long as possible.

One the one hand, Tsubaki couldn't exactly blame her: children wanted to keep their cheerful, naïve, innocent view of the world for as long as they could. Tsubaki herself certainly wished she could have kept it for longer than she had, what with graduating during a time of war and having to grow up very quickly on the front lines. But she had thrived as a kunoichi – it was what she was born to do, and she'd been on her way to being accepted as a medical ninja in training when the Nine-Tails attacked…

'_Naruto…'_ her thoughts now frequently wandered towards the boy that had won more and more of her admiration since he'd graduated from the Academy. If the rumors were to be believed, then he would be leaving to train under Master Jiraiya as his official apprentice for the next three years or so. Smiling at the thought, already knowing just how strong he was after hearing more and more of the boy's exploits, she could only imagine how strong he would be in three years with Master Jiraiya training him!

'_I imagine he'll also grow into that new track suit I bought for him, too!'_ she thought, in some glee, with just a hint of…desire?

'_OK, Tsubaki, let's not get ahead of __ourselves, here,'_ she told herself, reining her thoughts in, though the smile on her face at the thoughts she'd been having stayed there…

Jiraiya and Naruto were on their way out of the village. He wouldn't be seen in the village for three whole years. The village wouldn't be the same without him, and everyone knew it. His absence would be noticed, and he would be missed, but at the same time, the knowledge of what he would be doing in his absence inspired all of his peers, and many others within the village to work hard and train themselves. Naruto's peers, especially those from his graduating class as well as Might Guy's students, had all started training harder than ever before, not only because they wanted to be able to protect their friend, but because they also wanted to be able to stand and fight alongside him when he returned.

Tsubaki could only smile at that thought. Naruto had a presence of inspired leadership that he likely didn't realize he possessed. He inspired people to follow his example simply as a by-product of who he was; yet another unique power of his that made him truly special. She was one of the people that watched Naruto walk off with Jiraiya as they left through the gates. Catching his gaze one last time before he left through the gates, she smiled and waved at him.

Deciding that it was time she said something to him, she called out, "Good luck, Naruto! Stay safe out there, and get stronger!"

"Thanks!" he yelled back with a smile and a wave of his own, "I will! Believe it!"

As the pair walked off, Tsubaki thought to herself_, 'I can't wait to see just what you'll be like when you get back, Naruto,'_ and with that, she went on her way, missing the blond whirlwind of hyperactivity already…

* * *

As he and Jiraiya traveled down the road, Naruto couldn't shake the gnawing familiarity in the back of his head. The woman who wished him well – he recognized her as the mother of his old classmate Kasumi, and he had also remembered seeing her around the village, smiling and waving at him. She was one of the more genuine people in the village about her friendliness towards him; that much he could tell, but there was something else.

'_Why can't I figure out what this feeling is? What is it about her voice that…comforts me?'_ he asked himself in frustration.

"What's eatin' you, kiddo?" asked Jiraiya, clearly seeing that Naruto was preoccupied with something.

Naruto looked at his master and answered, "Honestly, it's something I don't think I'm gonna be able to figure out. That lady who wished me luck on the way out of the village?"

Jiraiya nodded, indicating that he knew who he was talking about.

"Well, something about her voice is just…I don't know…comforting to me? And I really don't know why."

Jiraiya smiled knowingly at him, "Well, it'll probably come to you in time if it's important, Naruto. But otherwise…" his knowing smile turned into a perverted grin, "…if nothing else, you got yourself a pretty lady who seems to want to see you again!"

Jiraiya finished with a loud, boisterous laugh! Naruto just grumbled at his teacher's antics, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Pervy Sage."

Both of them continued their travels, though Naruto couldn't help but keep his master's words in the back of his mind…

* * *

**And that's the Second Chapter! Next Time, the Time Skip – what'll happen when Naruto comes back to the village? You'l just have to stay tuned and see, now, won't you? Once again, please take a few moments to leave a review – I really want your input on how you think I'm handling this. Also, if you have criticism, please feel free to share it, but I ask that you give criticism with a helpful spirit and not a hateful one. ;-)**

**Hope to see you all next time!**


	3. I Like What I See

**Thanks so much to everyone who's been kind enough to leave a review for me so far. I know the style of this story is a bit different, and that's actually on purpose. Please continue to review – I really want as much feedback as you can supply on this, even if it's just to point out things you like – many of you have told me that you have no negatives to speak of, and I'm glad for that. I don't mind negative feedback, so long as it's given in a spirit of being helpful and not hateful. Harsh reviews are fine; it's useless reviews that I can do without. But anywho…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: I Like What I See...**

* * *

Tsubaki had a horrible, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something terrible had happened; the only time that the Hokage summoned a shinobi or kunoichi's next of kin to their office was when the ninja in question had been hurt, raped or killed. When she had arrived at the Hokage's office, she knocked on the door.

"Enter," she heard Tsunade's voice from the other side. She opened the door and entered. To her surprise, Ibara was there as well…and she looked upset.

"Tsubaki Kenpi?" asked Tsunade, wanting to confirm her identity.

"That's right, Lady Hokage," Tsubaki responded.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, "You'll want to sit down for this. Trust me."

Tsubaki immediately felt a lump rise in her throat as she took the seat Tsunade indicated for her. Tsunade proceeded to explain what had transpired, and that Tsubaki and Ibara's daughters had been killed in action. Apparently there was no next of kin for either their third Genin teammate or the Jounin sensei, this explaining why only Tsubaki and Ibara were there.

Tsubaki was in shock, with Ibara doing little better. Kasumi and Ami's first C-ranked mission had been mislabeled; Kasumi and Ami's Genin team had been commissioned to take down a simple group of bandits that had been terrorizing a town. They were told that it was a particularly lusty group of men, therefore an all-female team had been requested.

The mission was simple: infiltrate, seduce to distract, and eliminate. It seemed an easy enough task, except for the fact that the village hiring the team left out one important detail: a Jounin rogue-ninja from the Hidden Mist was leading the group. The Jounin Sensei of Kasumi's team was a rookie Jounin, while the rogue-ninja was a veteran Jounin. The difference in their skills could not have been more pronounced.

The bodies of all four kunoichi had been recovered after Tsunade sent Team Kurenai, with Kakashi Hatake as backup, out for search and retrieval. The rogue-ninja even gave Kakashi a hard time, but was eventually dispatched. When the bodies were found, they had long since been killed…and defiled in numerous ways, except for the jounin, who'd been kept alive by the rogue ninja as a plaything, but not before having her legs amputated at the knee, and her arms amputated at the elbow.

Once Kakashi and Team Kurenai arrived, the rogue Jounin had gutted the Jounin sensei…just so she could die slowly and give a report of what had been done to her and her team first in case he didn't make it out alive, himself. She told them every gruesome detail of what had happened: what the men had done to them, how they had used and abused them for their own wanton desires, how Natsuri, Kasumi and Ami's teammate, had been the only one of her students to put up any kind of struggle, and how only Natsuri had worked to find a way out of the situation they were in before she was done in by these ruthless men. She told them all of this before expiring slowly and painfully from blood loss. Tsubaki and Ibara knew what this meant: of the three Genin, only Natsuri dealt with the situation as a true kunoichi.

The bodies of their comrades had just been returned to the village, and were being prepared for burial. While they were being transported back to the village by Kurenai and her team, Kakashi went to the hiring village to find the mission contractor so that he could figure out what happened. He found out that they honestly didn't know about the rogue Jounin that led the group; they'd never seen him. This tragedy was the simple result of honest mistakes and insufficient intel.

"Ladies, please…if there's anything you need, or if there's anything I can do for either of you, please don't hesitate to call on me, okay?" Tsunade offered, hoping to provide what comfort she could for the grieving mothers.

Ibara simply sat there, silent tears flowing down her cheeks, her teeth gritted together in anguish. Tsubaki shed silent tears as well, hanging her head. Tsubaki began to mutter while slowly shaking her head back and forth, "I told them…I told them…"

Ibara looked at her former friend and snapped, "What are you talking about?"

Not even bothering to look up, Tsubaki answered the question in a slow, numb monotone, "I told them that they needed to train more. I told them that their training was all they would have to fall back on in the field…" her voice broke as she continued, "…I told them that something like this could happen, but they didn't listen to me," her cries became quietly vocal as she finished. Ibara only looked on in anger at Tsubaki's words.

"I told them…" Tsubaki continued, "…that their prince wasn't going to come in and save the day, and that they needed to train and stop treating this like some kind of game…"

"Or maybe they should have depended on **him** to come and rescue them instead?" Ibara snapped angrily, finally losing her cool as her own voice broke, "Except he's out on a training trip so he couldn't be here to protect our daughters, now, could he?"

Tsubaki, on impulse, stood up, and drummed the other woman hard across the face, knocking her out of her seat, "Don't you **dare** blame Naruto for something that he had no fault in! The only ones to blame for this are the men who killed them. But as hard as this is for you to accept, and as cruel as it might sound, the fact of the matter is that Kasumi and Ami should never have been kunoichi to begin with! They were Uchiha-fangirls in the Academy, and they never grew out of that! This would have happened eventually anyway, so stop looking for someone to blame! And don't you ever use Naruto Uzumaki as a scapegoat in my presence again! Do you understand me?"

Holding her hand to her reddened cheek, Ibara looked at her former friend in shock, before her shock turned to anger. She was about to retort and retaliate before Tsunade interjected, "Ibara!"

Ibara turned to the Hokage, who continued, "I agree with Tsubaki, quite frankly. And while I do sympathize with the fact that your life's just been turned upside down, I will not sit idly by and allow you to slander one of my best shinobi! Take it from someone who knows: if you don't change your perspective, and if you don't find the strength to take proper responsibility for yourself, you'll end up bitter, old and alone, with nothing but regrets. Now, if there's nothing that you need at the moment, please leave. If you need anything else, my door is open to you…starting tomorrow."

Tsunade looked at Ibara very pointedly, letting her know in no uncertain terms that any further outbursts on her part would not be tolerated. Ibara collected herself, narrowed her eyes into a glare, and left without another word.

Once she was gone, Tsunade looked at Tsubaki, genuinely impressed with how she stood up for Naruto; she hadn't known a lot of people who would do such a thing in the village since she had taken the reins as Hokage. Following this, she let out a frustrated sigh, "Barely a month has gone by since he left, and already people are forgetting all Naruto's done for them."

Tsubaki simply turned her gaze back to Tsunade and explained, "That's not it, Lady Tsunade; Ibara's always hated Naruto, just because seeing him reminds her of the fact that she lost her husband in the Nine-Tails Attack."

"Well, that explains her animosity," Tsunade remarked.

Tsubaki shook her head in disagreement, "No…it's just her excuse. The truth is that she's just not a kind or compassionate person; she never was. She's one of those people who need somebody to blame, and Naruto's burden gives her an easy target. I lost my husband that night just like she did. Both of us were left widowed with infant daughters at thirteen years old. We were both Chunin, and we had to resign from active duty so we could be home with our children, so in a sense, we lost our careers that night, too…but none of that is Naruto's fault. I'm ashamed to say that I once shared her point of view…until I actually saw who he was behind the goofy façade he puts up."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed curiously, "Really? What did you see?"

Tsubaki recollected the tale of how she saw Naruto on the tire swing as the only student in the Academy who didn't graduate with his class, and how at first, she only saw him as the boy who had the fox in him. She shared about how she looked him in the eye, only to see feelings and emotions that she knew quite well. She then shared about how her view changed the more she saw him around and observed him.

Tsunade smiled at Tsubaki's accounts of Naruto. Even Tsunade herself had to let Naruto grow on her, and it took Naruto standing up to protect her on both a broken leg and a torn quadricep; this woman simply saw something real in Naruto's eyes before she started changing her opinion of him for the better.

"Lady Tsunade?" Tsubaki asked suddenly, "I would like to request a skills evaluation so I can return to active duty."

Tsunade frowned in surprise, "Tsubaki, are you sure that's such a good idea, right now? I mean, you're going to need some time to grieve."

"I believe it would be helpful to me, Lady Hokage. My only child is gone, and while I will take the time to grieve…" Tsubaki's voice began to break as the tears started to flow, "…I want to be of use. I need to keep going, and moving forward. I always wanted to be a medical ninja."

"Really?" Tsunade asked as she leaned forward to listen closely, now quite interested in the woman's request.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Tsubaki enthusiastically, "You were always my hero in the Academy. I had to write a report about a great Konoha ninja as one of my assignments, and I chose you. I always thought that your proposal to put a medical ninja on every ninja squad was a brilliant idea, and I always wished that it would have been implemented."

Tsunade, now even more impressed, responded, "Wow! It's not often I meet someone your age who actually knows of that proposal. Do you still wish to learn medical ninjutsu?"

"Very much, milady," Tsubaki responded.

"Alright then," Tsunade said with a smile, "In exactly two weeks' time, I'll evaluate your skills myself and determine what rank you'll be given. You can report here at eight AM, and I'll take you to a training ground. I'll also make arrangements for you to begin training in medical ninjutsu. In the meantime, please…grieve for your lost child, and if you need anything, please feel free to come to me…even if it's just to go out and have a drink."

Tsubaki smiled gratefully and bowed to the older blonde, "Thank you, Lady Tsunade. There's a good chance that I'll do just that."

Tsunade smiled and nodded. Both of them said their goodbyes and Tsubaki left the office to go home and grieve the loss of Kasumi and Ami.

* * *

Tsubaki and Tsunade had gone out for drinks together several times. Tsubaki would talk, and sometimes cry, while Tsunade would offer what comfort she could. A small funeral service was held for the team that had recently been lost. Tsubaki and Ibara didn't have anything to say to each other, as both were too upset. Several of Kasumi and Ami's classmates and former classmates attended the funeral, including most of the Rookie Nine. Many condolences were offered, and both parents walked away from the service feeling comforted and cared for.

After the funeral, Tsubaki threw herself into preparing for her evaluation. When the time came around, Tsunade evaluated her overall skills, and allowed her to return to active duty at her previous rank of Chunin. Instead of the typical housewife's garb she was known to wear, she could now usually be seen in standard Chunin attire: green flak-vest, black shirt and pants, though she chose to go with skin-tight, form-fitting variations of the outfit, black ninja sandals, and a black headband that she wore around her waist as a belt. Her conditioning was now plain for all to see – muscles in all the right places, just enough to make her own curves a little more prominent. While she was always slender, she now looked quite fit. Throwing herself into her work, she requested missions immediately upon being processed back into the shinobi program.

In addition to receiving standard field missions, Tsubaki threw herself into training, both in the medical field and her other skills. She found that her chakra was aligned primarily to water, and so began chakra nature training exercises to learn to better control water. Might Guy, when available, coached her taijutsu and physical training to improve those aspects of her skill set. She also spent a good deal of time in the Shinobi library, pulling what resources she could find to improve her overall chakra control, learn new jutsu, and possibly find an additional element that she could train once she got the hang of her water chakra affinity.

This said nothing of her devotion to her medical training, however. She threw herself into it with a vigor that even Sakura Haruno, Tsunade's newest apprentice, hadn't displayed. Shizune was awestruck at the woman's work ethic, having seen that she had somehow crammed and mastered two years' worth of medical theory and jutsu training into eight months! When she had brought Tsubaki's work to Tsunade's attention, Tsunade had approached Tsubaki and offered her additional study material. She also expressed her regrets that she couldn't take Tsubaki on as an apprentice at that time, because one apprentice was already quite a handful, especially on top of being the Hokage. Tsubaki, grateful for anything she could get, jumped at the chance to study Tsunade's material, wrapping her arms around Tsunade on impulse, before remembering herself and sheepishly apologizing. Tsunade waved off her apology, and Tsubaki ended up taking her abilities in medicine and medical ninjutsu to new heights.

Tsunade, at first, was ecstatic about Tsubaki's zeal to learn and master the skills she was being taught. Her joy became laced with curiosity as she saw Tsubaki's drive only grow. Two years into Tsubaki's medical training, the blonde Hokage invited Tsubaki out for a drink again.

Once they were at the bar with plenty of sake to go around, Tsunade began the conversation, "Well, Tsubaki, I can't recall ever being so impressed with a medical ninjutsu student as I am with you. Even considering that Sakura's learning directly under me, and your studies are mostly self-directed, the fact that your skills as a medic have surpassed Sakura's own is nothing short of spectacular. So what exactly is it that's driven you to work so hard since returning to duty?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Tsubaki responded without shame or hesitation.

"Hmm…" Tsunade pondered, intrigued, "…what about him exactly?"

"Well, he does so much and works so hard for this village, just so that people will acknowledge his existence and treat him with the same respect that the rest of us get as a matter of common courtesy. He deals with so much, and yet he still wants to help others. Iruka Umino once told me that Naruto has a special ability that allows him to befriend just about anyone he crosses paths with…" she trailed off for a brief moment.

"I can attest to that, firsthand," Tsunade admitted.

"But then," Tsubaki continued, "He also has this strange aura of leadership about him."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this, prompting Tsubaki to explain, "He inspires others to follow him, simply as a by-product of who he is and the example he sets. He works so hard to protect all of us; I think it's only right that the rest of us do what we can to be in a position to fight alongside and protect him, too."

"I never really thought of it like that…about the leadership quality, I mean," Tsunade admitted, "But you're absolutely right. That **is** what's been going on with his friends since he left with Jiraiya. I'll tell you, Naruto…he just makes you want to bet on him, you know what I mean?"

Tsubaki nodded, understanding Tsunade's point. Tsunade quietly noted the expression on Tsubaki's face – it was almost wistful. She was wearing an involuntary smile that gave her a faraway look. Tsunade was even able to note the ever so slight blush on Tsubaki's cheeks – even though she hadn't had that much to drink. She decided not to comment on it, but some part of Tsunade told herself that despite how outlandish it might seem at first glance…this woman that had become her friend in the last two or so years would be a good fit for Naruto's life. In what capacity, she couldn't really tell, but she could see that both of them would benefit from knowing each other and being close.

"So, how close to Naruto are you?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"Actually, I don't really know him on a personal level. We've never actually had a conversation."

This surprised Tsunade greatly, and it showed, "Then how is it you seem to know him so well?"

"Just keen observation skills, I guess," Tsubaki responded honestly, "But the more I think on it, it might be more that I'm looking at what's really there, and not just seeing what I want to see…" her tone took on a slight edge, "…it frustrates me to no end how blind people can be. I was blind as well, for a long time, but…I don't know, when I looked into his eyes for the first time, I saw a human being there…and a very lonely one at that."

Tsunade nodded sadly, "I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even notice that about him until you said something to me that first time we talked. It's funny: I pulled out some pictures that I had of him, and I noticed something – in every picture where he smiles at the camera…his eyes are always closed. It made me think that he's a lot more perceptive than we've ever given him credit for. I always thought it was just him being happy and oblivious, but now…I can't help but wonder if he knew what he was doing in trying to hide his eyes from the world…" she trailed off as she reflected on those images.

Tsubaki just nodded sadly and sighed, before commenting once more, "You know what's funny? Ever since the Chunin Exam Finals two years back…after what I heard him say to Neji Hyuuga after beating him, I've been wanting to talk to him and find out more about him…I just want to know who he really is…"

"What's stopped you?" Tsunade asked, genuinely curious.

"Circumstances, believe it or not," she said with an ironic chuckle, "When I was coming, he was going, or the other way around, and at the times where neither of us was coming or going, it just…wouldn't have been appropriate to have such a conversation. I guess I just came to accept the fact that if I want to have that conversation with him, I'll have to be patient and wait for the opportunity to present itself."

"I suppose so," Tsunade admitted, "But I believe your chance will come."

"I hope so," Tsubaki replied with a smile, "I really hope so."

* * *

"I'M HOME, EVERYONE! NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED TO THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!" could be heard throughout the streets, in Naruto's voice, no less!

'_He's back?'_ Tsubaki asked herself excitedly, snapping her head around to gaze in the direction that the great announcement seemed to originate from, _'Where is he? What does he look like now? Oh, I have to go see!'_

She wasted no time, taking to the rooftops to quickly find him. After catching sight of him standing atop a post, she gasped. There he was, a good deal taller…and thicker…than when she'd last seen him. And he was wearing the track suit she'd bought him all those years ago, too! She smiled at the sight of his attire, and she couldn't stop the blush creeping across her cheeks at the sight of the boy-turned-man!

"Naruto!" she called out, getting his attention. He smiled as he caught sight of her, jumping off the post onto the nearest roof. He noted that she had discarded the civilian housewife get-up for a much nicer-fitting Leaf Chunin uniform. She landed on the same roof and approached him, smiling and blushing all the while.

"It's you…" Naruto began, as he fumbled around, trying to think of what to say, "…err…hi."

Tsubaki giggled, "Well, hi, yourself! I see the track suit I bought you fits you rather nicely, now."

Naruto gasped with wide eyes as he pointed at her, "You're Tsubaki?"

She nodded, "It's nice to officially meet you, Naruto, and I appreciate you remembering my name from just a get-well card."

"Errm…you too," he replied cheerfully, chuckling while scratching the back of his head, "I didn't know you were a ninja."

"Actually, I had retired from service on the night of the Nine-Tails attack; my husband was killed, and I was left to raise our daughter by myself. I returned to active duty a few weeks after you left for your trip."

"Okay," he said, nodding with a smile, "So how is your daughter?"

Her face fell at that. Naruto immediately noticed and offered an apology, "I'm sorry – if that's a sore spot for you…"

"No, it's okay. You wouldn't have known – she died in the line of duty three years ago."

Naruto's own face fell, "Oh…I'm sorry…"

"Thank you," she replied, "I actually returned to active duty immediately after I was finished mourning her loss. It just…seemed like the right thing to do; it gives me a chance to contribute, and I can also do my part in making sure that what happened to Kasumi doesn't happen to anyone else."

Naruto's lips and cheeks crept slowly upward into a warm, genuine smile at that, "That's good to hear; I'm glad to know you're making the best of something like that."

Tsubaki smiled gratefully and nodded. She then noticed the happy twinkle in his eyes and commented, "You know, you have a very nice smile when you're happy. I hope I get to see that smile more."

Now, it was Naruto's turn to blush, "Err, thanks…" he chuckled sheepishly, "I think that a ninja's uniform definitely suits you more than a housewife's dress does, and I'm glad to see you…like this…" Naruto's flush grew more pronounced when he realized what his compliment must have sounded like.

Tsubaki's own blush deepened at Naruto's clumsy compliment. Seeing that he was about to panic and ask her to excuse his behavior, she responded, "Well, err…thank you."

She had understood what Naruto's intent was, and Naruto seemed to catch that. Both of them stood there, just looking at each other in awkward silence. After a few moments, a third party that Naruto had forgotten all about had broken the silence, both relieving and annoying Naruto at the same time.

"Hey, kid, you won't believe who's down below!" came Jiraiya's jovial bellow. Naruto turned around to see that Jiraiya had come up to the roof. He also noticed when Jiraiya turned his gaze to Tsubaki.

"And who might you be, my dear?" Jiraiya asked, immediately flirting with the honey-brown-haired Chunin that had been engaging in conversation with his pupil.

"Hello, Master Jiraiya; my name is Tsubaki Kenpi, and I was just welcoming Naruto back from his trip with you," she greeted the man before bowing to him.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto and gave a perverted grin, putting his arm around Naruto's shoulders, "Not bad, kid! Not bad at all! This one really **is** a looker!"

Naruto began to sputter at Jiraiya's blunt and direct "analysis" of the situation that he and Tsubaki had entered.

Tsubaki, being a tactful woman, replied, "Thank you, Master Jiraiya. It's nice to receive praise from such a prestigious and powerful shinobi as yourself."

Naruto face-faulted while Jiraiya's chest seemed to puff out.

"Well, of course, I am the man to make all women swoon everywhere," he bellowed with a laugh.

Tsubaki seemed to adopt a knowing smirk as she continued, "But, as far as male company and companionship goes…" she walked over to Naruto, grabbing his arm opposite the side Jiraiya was on and finished, "…I'd prefer Naruto here to you."

Naruto's face-fault became even more pronounced, a tomato-red blush now covering his entire face. Jiraiya just gave an agonizing yell and started crying anime tears. After a few moments, both Naruto and Jiriaya recovered.

Jiraiya spoke up with a snarky smile, "Well, as much as I would like to leave the two of you alone to continue…engaging each other…" his smile fell as he became a little more serious, "…Naruto, we do need to report back in. Besides, Sakura and Konohamaru are down below waiting for you."

Naruto smiled at that, nodding to his master. Turning back to Tsubaki, he took his leave, "Well, Tsubaki, I hope we get to talk more some time."

She smiled and responded with a nod, "I'd like that. How about we get some lunch or something tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. You like ramen?"

"Yes, I do," she responded with a laugh, "And I can only imagine that you must be biting at the bit for Ichiraku's."

"You'd better believe it!" he responded, "Tomorrow at lunchtime, then!"

She nodded, "I'll see you then, and…welcome back, Naruto."

"Thanks, Tsubaki! It's good to be back."

Naruto jumped down to the street on the side of the building where Sakura and Konohamaru were, while Tsubaki jumped down the other side of the building to the street one block over. Looking at the time, she began to make her way to the hospital to start her shift in half an hour. On her way there, she crossed paths with Ibara, who seemed to be shopping and running a few errands. Ibara stopped with a double-take as she saw her former friend, a woman she hadn't seen since Ami and Kasumi's funeral service. She gaped as she saw Tsubaki, dressed in Chunin attire.

'_She must not have known that I returned to active service,'_ Tsubaki thought to herself.

Tsubaki offered a weak smile and a nod to Ibara. Ibara, in response, cast her gaze down and slightly away from Tsubaki before turning and going back about her business. Saddened for the woman, Tsubaki continued on her way to the hospital…

* * *

Naruto couldn't deny that he had changed. He'd had time to think on a few things while he and Jiraiya had been travelling from place to place. He'd had a chance to discuss a lot of life experiences with Jiraiya, who in turn wasn't stingy with him in that department. Both of them were able to laugh with each other at getting tied to the stump at the end of the Bell test. Both of them were crushing hard on girls who would beat the crap out of them simply because they were in the mood to, though unlike Naruto, Jiraiya would admit that it was his perverted leers and antics that would bring Tsunade's wrath upon him most of the time. Sakura, on the other hand, would hit Naruto just because she felt he was getting in the way of her pursuit of Sasuke, or he'd just done something to annoy her, whether or not it was actually her concern.

The more time away he'd had from the village, the more he was able to see certain people for who, and what, they really were. Sakura hadn't so much as left him a get well card when he had come back from the Sasuke Retrieval mission, and even though she tried to cheer him up while he was there in the room, she had mainly come by to find out the full story of what happened to Sasuke. In contrast, a woman who had only seen him on the street a handful of times not only brought him flowers and a card, but a gift as well. When he had thought of these things, his interest in Sakura started to wane rather quickly. He eventually found himself asking what it was he ever saw in Sakura to begin with.

He had grown up. His time with Jiraiya hadn't been without its benefits and lessons. He was able to learn from Jiraiya's own mistakes with Tsunade, as well as from Tsunade's reactions to Jiraiya. Sakura was even more volatile than Tsunade had been, and Naruto came to the conclusion that he would be better off, in many ways, by letting Sakura go. Ironically, he came to that conclusion after he had already let her go unconsciously.

These were the things he had pondered on his way to Hokage Tower with Jiraiya and Sakura. After trying to show Konohamaru his latest pervy ninjutsu, Sakura had slugged him once more. Of course, he would admit that he probably asked for that. Still, though – would it be too much to ask that Sakura not hit him hard enough to break his jaw? After all, it wasn't like he was peeking on her in the bathhouse or something!

He was broken out of his thoughts as Sakura knocked on Tsunade's office door. The three of them entered when the command was given, and from there, he and Jiraiya gave Tsunade an update on Naruto's training…

* * *

Tsubaki was waiting for Naruto to show up at Ichiraku's. She had gotten there at Eleven Thirty, just half an hour before noon, so that she could be sure she wouldn't miss him. The more she thought about this, though, the more awkward she felt. What would she say to him? What would they have to talk about? Would he even show up? It wasn't like they knew each other, after all…

"Hey there!" Tsubaki heard from behind her. Turning around, she saw Naruto; he came to meet her, after all! He was also wearing that same smile she liked so much yesterday – that genuine smile that showed he was truly happy. She smiled back, both with relief and with happiness that he was there.

"Hi!" she said right back, "Have a seat! I haven't ordered yet; I was waiting on you to get here."

Naruto nodded and took the stool immediately to Tsubaki's left. The two of them exchanged a few pleasantries before Teuchi came to take their orders.

As Teuchi saw Naruto, he beamed, "Hey there, kid! Welcome back! I had no idea that this fine young lady was referring to you when she mentioned she was waiting for someone! You've gotten a good bit bigger since I last saw you!"

"Thanks, old man! I sure did miss your cooking, though! I would have been here last night, but I wanted to be in bed early enough to make sure I'd be here on time after what Kakashi-sensei just put me through."

"Music to my ears, my boy! So what can I get you? First round's on the house to welcome back my favorite customer!"

Both of them ordered miso ramen, Naruto with his usual additions: fishcakes, a boiled egg and extra barbecued pork. As they received their meals, Tsubaki and Naruto found it quite easy to talk to each other. They started with Naruto's Second Bell Test with Kakashi that went well into the wee hours of the morning…and just finished a few hours ago. Tsubaki shared about her return to duty since he had left the village, while Naruto told her about his adventures with Jiraiya while travelling from place to place, many of which seemed to end with the two of them being chased out of town by angry towel-clad females because Jiraiya just couldn't keep himself from doing "research". Surprisingly to Naruto, Tsubaki found those particular tales absolutely hilarious, especially when Jiraiya couldn't get away fast enough.

After spending time getting to know each other a bit, an ANBU suddenly appeared.

"Uzumaki," he quickly said, "the Hokage requires your presence right away!"

Naruto, seeing the seriousness of the situation, nodded. The ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke at his response. Naruto turned to Tsubaki and began to explain, but she waved him off before he could say anything.

"Missions come first; I do understand," she explained reassuringly, "Listen, most of my time on duty is spent at the hospital. You know Isako, right? In ICU?"

Naruto nodded, prompting Tsubaki to continue, "She can always tell you where I am. So if you want to drop by and talk some more after you get back from your mission, I'll be waiting for you, okay?"

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Well, gotta run! I'll see you soon, Tsubaki!"

"Looking forward to it!"

With that, Naruto left the stand and made his way to the Hokage's office at top speed…

* * *

**And chapter three! They've finally met, and they're finally talking! I know many of you might be sad about Kasumi's passing, but it serves a purpose in the story. As always, my friends, please review and tell me what you think.**

**Just to let you all know ahead of time, the updates are going to slow down a little bit. I'm now working to make sure that I have the timeframes of certain events right. I want to make sure I'm giving you guys quality as well as quantity! ****See you next chapter!**


	4. I Understand What I See

**And here's the next chapter of this story! ****Be warned – this chapter ****contains**** sexually-explicit content, and is not intended for readers under the age of eighteen.**** There – the warning**** has been issued.**

**Also, I feel the need to clarify what I mean by "useless reviews" as I stated in the last chapter. Useless reviews, to me, are reviews where the reviewer is simply being insulting. Again, I can handle harsh reviews, but flames are a waste of time – it's a waste of time for you to write them (surely, if you're a flamer, you must have something better to do), and it's a waste of my time to have to read them.**

**Positive reviews that don't necessarily have content in then aren't useless – if nothing else, they lift my spirits as an author by letting me know that my work is appreciated. I actually find negative reviews to be quite useful…if they're offered with the intent to help me as a writer to write a better story, or to fix mistakes.**

**That said, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: I Understand What I See**

* * *

Naruto was currently in a hospital room with a cast on his arm. From what Tsubaki had been able to gather, Naruto had just finished creating some new super-jutsu that had sliced up some of the chakra coils in his arm. They could still be healed, which relieved Tsubaki – she wouldn't want him to lose his ability to mold chakra.

It had been, what, a few months, since they'd had a chance to talk? It was the day after Naruto had gotten back with Master Jiraiya when they'd had lunch. Having just been promoted to Jounin, Tsubaki was now taking on more special case patients. When she heard that Naruto had been admitted for observation and for a few check-ups on his arm, she jumped at the chance to be his attendant. It would give her a chance to care for him, and also to spend some time with him as well, as he had been going on mission after mission with almost no downtime.

Smiling as she entered his room, she greeted him, "Hello Naruto, how are you?"

Naruto looked at the woman who had just greeted him with a smile of his own when he saw who it was, "Tsubaki! Hi!"

She was dressed in semi-civilian garb, attire that medics typically wore when not out in the field, and not in surgery. She was dressed in a cream-colored form-fitting blouse with a turtle-neck collar over a crimson skirt that ended a few inches above her knees, and high-heeled ninja sandals. Her headband was around her neck, indicating that she was on duty as a ninja. She wore her hair in a ponytail that began at the base of her neck, giving the hair on her head a framing effect around her face, which was highlighted with natural-shade eye shadow and lip gloss of a medium pink. She was the epitome of an attractively-dressed professional woman – tasteful, yet slightly provocative.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto; it's been too long…" she began, still smiling, "…though I do wish that it was under better circumstances."

"Well, it's always good to see you…" he responded, "…so I'll take whatever circumstances I can get if it gives me a chance to talk to you again."

Tsubaki couldn't help but blush at such a declaration. She thanked him shyly as she started making small talk with him, running some scans and performing a routine healing jutsu so that the healing in his arm could be accelerated. She noted an additional injury on his body that wasn't on his chart. She turned to Naruto and indulged her curiosity.

"Naruto, what is this injury on your head? And why isn't it on your chart, here?"

Naruto looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Tsubaki's confusion turned into surprise, though she kept an even tone in her voice, "How did you hurt your head? Do you not feel any pain around your head right now?"

"Well, a little – Sakura gave me a knock to my skull when I was in Grandma Tsunade's office, but it's what I normally feel after she does that."

Tsubaki's eyes narrowed, "Do you know who it was that created this chart?"

"I think Sakura did. Why?"

"Has anyone else besides Sakura seen you or treated you since you were brought here?"

"Well, no."

Naruto's confusion seemed to grow at Tsubaki's few moments of thoughtful contemplation.

"Naruto…" Tsubaki broke the silence, her face suddenly adopting a serious expression, "…I'm going to issue a formal request that Sakura Haruno not be allowed to treat you for the foreseeable future. I need to speak to the Hokage."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Naruto began, shocked at the brunette medic's admission, "Why don't you want Sakura treating me?"

"Because you've sustained injuries that are not listed here on this chart, which means that Sakura either didn't record them when she constructed your chart, or you've sustained them since you were admitted. For a medic to not report such injuries if they are aware of them is unethical and illegal."

Naruto just stared at her for a few moments. Tsubaki continued, "Naruto, there are signs of blunt-force trauma, past and present, to your skull. Your healing ability, thankfully, allows you to recover from injuries of even that severity. Still, though, if it was anyone else, these injuries could have been terminal or even fatal."

Naruto's eyes went wide. Sakura's punches to the head were affecting him that badly? He did find that he had trouble thinking or seeing straight for a few days any time after Sakura hit him on the top of his head. And her hits hurt, which was saying something, considering Naruto's tolerance for pain.

"Naruto, I know you don't want a friend of yours to get into trouble," Tsubaki said, "But this has to be reported; it's the law."

Naruto, seeing the pretty medic's urgency_…'Huh? Pretty? I'll admit, she certainly is, but where'd that come from?'_…Naruto closed his eyes, sighed and nodded. Tsubaki made a few additional notes to the chart at the foot of Naruto's bed and left to find the Hokage…

* * *

Tsunade frowned in concern, several issues weighing on her mind. The first and foremost was the damage done to Kakuzu's body from the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, and the corresponding damage to Naruto's arm. She hoped that Naruto would heed the warnings about using the jutsu unless a way could be found to eliminate the damage to the user.

The other issue was Sakura's continual loss of temper with Naruto over nothing. Just because Naruto wasn't paying her as much attention as he used to was not a reason for her to go off on him any time she felt like it. And then to go so far as to hit him simply because he objected to going to the hospital? Most people object to that! It would also seem that Sakura had been making herself a bit scarce when Tsunade would have the time to speak with her about the matter. As it wasn't a matter of critical urgency right now, she would have to let it slide in favor of more urgent and higher-priority issues.

"Lady Tsunade?" she heard a familiar female voice ask. She looked up to see a welcome sight.

"Tsubaki," she said with some relief, "It's good to see a friend. Please, come in."

"Thank you, my lady," Tsubaki responded as she quickly entered and closed the door.

Tsubaki briskly made her way to Tsunade's desk, and placed a copy of the chart she had just finished updating in front of Tsunade, "Tsunade, I wish this was a friendly visit, but I felt that this was something you'd need to address right away."

Tsunade, not used to the urgency in Tsubaki's voice, frowned in confusion, "Okay, what is it?"

"This is a copy of Naruto Uzumaki's current chart. Please have a look at it," she gestured to the documents she had laid in front of the older blonde.

Tsunade picked it up and started going through it. Her eyes narrowed the more she read. When she was done, she put the chart down and stared hard at Tsubaki. To her surprise, Tsubaki didn't even flinch.

"Tsubaki, do you mean to tell me with this chart that you believe Sakura Haruno either didn't check Naruto's head for injuries or deliberately left them off of his chart?"

"That's exactly what I mean to tell you, Lady Tsunade," she responded with firm conviction, "In fact, I've already placed in a request with Shizune to keep Sakura Haruno from being allowed to treat Naruto for the remainder of his stay in the hospital until we can get to the bottom of this. If injuries of this nature are not on this chart, either she doesn't know what she's doing…or worse, she does."

Tsunade's eyes widened at this; Tsubaki, still not done, continued, "I'm also requesting that you go to his room and check my findings; I believe I've found something else that I didn't write onto that chart yet because I frankly couldn't believe what I found, so I'd ask if you could go over him as well and see if he has…well…inflammation to his brain?"

"Encephalitis?" Tsunade responded, stunned.

"That's just it! There's no trace of any pathogens that would cause encephalitis in his body, but I'm pretty sure his brain is swollen. The weird thing, though, is that he's not showing any outward symptoms of a closed head injury!"

At Tsubaki's diagnosis, Tsunade wasted no time. She got up from her desk and headed straight to the hospital.

"Follow me!" she ordered Tsubaki. Tsubaki was on her heels the whole way...

* * *

Once they got to Naruto's room, there was Naruto, and Sakura was there with him, apparently about to hit him on the head again…with the clipboard that had his chart on it.

"Freeze where you are, Sakura!" Tsunade bellowed out. Sakura, in her surprise, froze in her tracks.

"Err…what?" Sakura asked in her confusion, lowering her arm. Naruto's flinch also relaxed.

Tsunade quickly moved around to Naruto's bedside, her hand covered in green medical chakra as she started gently rubbing her palm around his head. Tsubaki followed her in, turning her gaze towards Sakura.

"What are you doing in this room, Sakura?" Tsubaki asked.

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing in here?'? I'm treating my teammate!" she responded indignantly.

"After I found a few discrepancies on his chart…" Tsubaki paid attention to Sakura's facial expressions as she was explaining herself. Sakura seemed genuinely confused, "…I made a formal request to Shizune that you not be allowed in here to treat him."

"Discrepancies? What discrepancies? I listed every injury that he was admitted for!"

"What about the injuries to his head?"

Sakura's confusion seemed to grow, "What injuries to his head? What in the world are you talking about?"

"Whether you know or not is not the issue right now. You are not authorized to be in this room!" Tsubaki informed her firmly.

"Actually, Sakura, stay for now, but please sit over there," Tsunade instructed, pointing to a chair on the far side of the room while still focusing on scanning Naruto's head.

After several minutes, Tsunade was done, "You're right, Tsubaki. He does have a closed-head injury."

Sakura gasped upon hearing this. She brought her hands up to her face in her surprise. Tsubaki turned to the pink-haired girl upon hearing her gasp before turning her attention back to Naruto.

Tsunade spoke up once more, "Naruto, I'm going to use a technique that should reduce some of the pressure you must be feeling on your head, okay? It'll hurt a bit, but you'll feel a lot better afterwards."

Naruto just nodded, trusting the woman to treat him properly. Tsunade performed a few hand seals and the green in her hands seemed to deepen and become a slightly darker shade. She put her hands to Naruto's head. At first, he didn't seem to feel anything different but after a few seconds, he closed his eyes and began to grit his teeth. Shortly after this, a pained groan made itself known from the back of Naruto's throat. After a couple of minutes of this, Naruto slumped back, completely unconscious. Tsunade ran through a few more techniques, apparently taking care of some of the after-effects of her jutsu before performing a final scan.

"He should be fine, now," Tsunade breathed out at last, "Tsubaki, scan him again, please?"

Tsubaki followed the blonde's orders, running the scan and confirming Tsunade's findings. She nodded as she finished up. Both of them turned to Sakura.

"Sakura?" Tsunade began, "Explain yourself!"

"Wh-wh-well, I…I…didn't know he had sustained any injuries to his head," she finally got out.

"Ball up your fist, please," Tsunade ordered firmly.

"What?"

"Do it!"

"Okay, okay," Sakura said nervously, balling up her fist and presenting it to Tsunade. Tsunade took a moment to do a few visual measurements on Sakura's closed fist.

Once she was done, Tsunade explained somewhat darkly, "The size and indentations of your fist match many of the injuries to Naruto's head, Sakura. You're apparently the one who gave him that injury…and some of his other past injuries as well."

Sakura gasped once more, tears beginning to well into her eyes. She turned her gaze to him, looking forlorn, "I…I didn't know…"

"Sakura, I can only hope that's the honest truth, because I'd hate to think what it meant if you did know," Tsunade said, her tone leaving no room for excuse on Sakura's part, "But regardless of whether or not you knew about that, what excuse do you have for violating protocol and coming into this room when instructions were clearly given for you not to?"

"I…I…I just wanted to…to see my friend…"

"Your friend? Do you give head injuries to all your 'friends'? You knew that you were not to come in here, did you not?" Tsubaki interrupted as she became agitated.

Sakura nodded to Tsubaki.

"Sakura," Tsunade brought the girl's attention back to herself, "As I don't believe you honestly meant Naruto any harm, I'll be lenient as far as a penalty goes. But you need to understand something: your actions here today, and your negligence concerning **all** of Naruto's injuries can be considered gross medical malpractice! I'll allow you to keep your rank and continue working as a medic, but as of now, your apprenticeship under me is over!"

Sakura gasped once more as tears began to freely flow, "Please, Lady Tsunade, not that!"

"Would you rather I send you to prison?" Tsunade interrupted, causing Sakura to go wide-eyed, "Because that's the due penalty for this!"

After a few moments' pause, Tsunade continued, "Sakura, I have never condoned your overly-volatile and abusive treatment of Naruto. Granted, I know I've hit Jiraiya in the past, and there was the one time that I beat him to near-death for being a perverted lecher. But that one time, I regretted it…I still regret it to this day. I went too far, and you've never seen me hit him since…nor will you! You, on the other hand, have hit Naruto simply because you were annoyed with him, which is one issue in and of itself, but because you know my super-strength technique, that makes you a clear and present danger to his life and health!"

Sakura seemed to shrink in on herself at her master's harsh rebuke. Tsunade continued, "As I said, Sakura, your apprenticeship with me is over. And if I ever hear of you hitting Naruto again, **especially** around the head, the day I hear of that will be the day that your career as both a medic and as a ninja end, too! Am I understood?"

Sakura could do naught but hang her head in shame, "Yes, Lady Tsunade."

"Good. Now leave this room and do not come back in for the remainder of Naruto's stay, here!"

Sakura simply nodded before slowly leaving the room. Tsunade could only look on in angry disappointment. Tsubaki honestly didn't know what to say. After a few minutes, Tsunade began to shed a few tears of her own and hang her head, shaking it back and forth.

"I didn't imagine in a million years that this would happen. I didn't imagine that she'd take after my own failings like this," she said quietly.

Tsubaki sighed, "Lady Tsunade, I'm sorry about all of this."

"No…you have nothing to apologize for; you did the right and ethical thing by bringing this to my attention, Tsubaki. Thank you."

"You're welcome…and I promise that Naruto will get well quickly while he's under my care, here."

Tsunade turned to Tsubaki for a moment before smiling with narrow eyes and asking slyly, "You have a soft spot for Naruto, don't you?"

Tsubaki blushed a deep red suddenly, beginning to sputter. As she realized she was busted, she calmed down and nodded, "Yeah, maybe a little."

Tsunade laughed before her smile softened and gestured to the woman, "I don't think so; you've got more than a little soft spot for him! Tell you what: you can tell me all about it over sake tonight."

Tsubaki laughed, "Deal."

Both of them left Naruto's room, allowing him some much-needed rest.

"By the way," Tsunade added as they both walked down the hall, "It looks like I'll need a new apprentice now. Interested?"

* * *

Being Tsunade's apprentice certainly wasn't easy. Tsubaki was training day in and day out with Tsunade whenever time permitted. Tsunade was amazed once more at how Tsubaki took to her master's teachings like a fish to water, approaching them with a drive that even Sakura had failed to show. Her medical jutsu were already top-notch, and the advanced chakra control exercises that Tsunade had shown her brought her already-stellar chakra control to new heights.

Tsubaki also started serving as Tsunade's assistant when Shizune was unavailable, or out on a mission. Tsunade looked forward to these times, as while Shizune would always take away Tsunade's precious sake, Tsubaki would usually drink with her! Of course, she'd make sure that Tsunade drank in moderation while on duty, as she herself would, but being the Hokage was stressful! There were days when Tsunade quite frankly needed a drink or ten, especially with what Homura, Koharu and Danzo put the poor woman through.

Thinking of those three always put Tsubaki on edge. She had once nearly lost her temper with all of them and was about to show them her newfound prowess with Tsunade super-strength technique, but fortunately, it turned out not to be necessary. The elders also learned to stay away from Tsunade's office unless it was a matter that could not wait, as unlike Shizune, Tsubaki wasn't intimidated by them in the least. They weren't getting to Tsunade if they didn't absolutely need to; not on her watch!

Once Shizune and team had returned from the mission to retrieve and seal the Three-Tailed Turtle, with no turtle to show for all of their efforts, Tsubaki spent that night commiserating with Tsunade over the full onslaught of the Elders that Shizune certainly stood no chance against. It had been a wonderfully miserable night of getting completely trashed and forgetting…at least until the next morning, to be painfully reminded not only by circumstances but by their hangovers as well.

Naruto had also returned with the sealing team, but was sent out almost immediately afterwards once intel had been received that Orochimaru had been killed by Sasuke Uchiha. He had been given a mission to find and capture Itachi Uchiha, who had been spotted in the Land of Fire. It was also during this time that Jiraiya had gone to the Village Hidden in the Rain. Tsunade had had a horrible, sinking feeling in her gut when Jiraiya left, and she immediately went to Tsubaki's home. Tsubaki, who hadn't ever seen Tsunade in such a state, elected to allow her to come into her home and do their drinking there. Tsunade was in tears about it all; meanwhile all Tsubaki could do was hug the woman. Their drinking that night consisted more of tea than sake.

'_How did we develop such a kinship with each other?'_ Tsubaki thought offhand, _'She was certainly my hero growing up, but it's amazing how we've become such great friends. What makes her trust me so much?'_

Deciding to voice her thoughts once Tsunade had calmed down and was content again, she asked, "Tsunade?"

"Hmm?"

"Just curious…how did we become such great friends in so short a time? I mean, why do you trust me so much?"

Tsunade, without missing a beat, answered, "I honestly think you're the most objective person I've ever met in this village, Tsubaki. That's at least what makes me trust you as much as I do."

"What makes you say that?"

"Your opinion of Naruto and how you formed it, for one. Of all the people I've ever spoken to in this village, you're the only person besides Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku who have ever taken a fair, objective look at him. It's funny, Shizune did, too when we first met him."

Tsubaki simply nodded, listening to her mentor and friend while Tsunade told her the story of how she first met Naruto. They spent their evening exchanging stories about Naruto, some of which had been told before, some of which had not. After Tsunade had crashed there for the evening, they both continued the next day as they usually would, in slightly better spirits than they would have otherwise been…

* * *

Naruto and team had just gotten back from the mission to capture and retrieve Itachi Uchiha. They came up with nothing. Apparently, Itachi had been killed by Sasuke by the time they got there, and blood stains were the only evidence of the battle that had taken place. That wasn't the main issue that was bothering Tsubaki at the moment. What was bothering Tsubaki was how Naruto would take the news about Jiraiya's being killed in the Hidden Rain.

He didn't take it well. Tsubaki received the news from Shizune as to what had taken place in Tsunade's office. The woman knew that Tsunade would probably want to be left alone right now; if she wanted company, she'd seek it out. She also knew that Tsunade would be alright. It was Naruto that she was worried about right now.

As soon as her shift ended, she began her search for him. It was late; the sun had long since set. She couldn't find him in any of his normal haunts! He wasn't at Ichiraku's, he wasn't on the Hokage Monument…he wasn't even at home! Where was he? She continued searching; she had to find him! After several hours of continuous searching, she had become too tired to continue her search; she would rest and try again tomorrow. She chanced by a convenience store…and caught a glimpse of orange out of the corner of her eye. Turning her gaze in the direction of the orange, she saw him…and the state that he was in caused her stomach to clinch and her heart to break.

There he was, sitting on a bench in a slumped over position. Tears were streaming down his face. He wasn't wearing his jacket; he was in his orange track suit pants and a black t-shirt. He was just staring at the ground, oblivious to any and all around him. In his hand was a double-stick popsicle, melting and dripping onto the street below; he hadn't made any attempt to eat it.

Tsubaki felt her own tears begin to form. She walked over to him slowly. He hadn't noticed her at all. Once she reached him, she knelt down and took his free hand in both of her own. This got his attention, as he brought his gaze up to look the woman in the eye.

"Tsubaki…" he muttered, surprised to see her.

She moved to sit beside him on the bench. Once she was situated, not having let go of his hand, she said softly through her tears, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Naruto just sat there for a few moments, not knowing what to say. In his discomfort, he began to put on his goofy façade with closed eyes and make light of his feelings, "Aww, it's okay, Tsubaki…I'm fine…"

Tsubaki interrupted him by bringing a hand up to his face and gently resting it there, causing his eyes to snap open and his grin to turn into a half-gape.

"Naruto, please…" she began, "…don't do this to yourself…" her voice began to break as she continued, "…and please don't do that to me, either."

Naruto just sat there, staring wide-eyed at the woman who was breaking through his emotional defenses. He turned his head away while averting his gaze from hers. Tsubaki, however, brought the hand that was on his cheek to his chin and gently turned his gaze back to her own.

Seeing that she had his full attention again, she smiled softly through her tears, brought her hand back up to his cheek, and gently addressed him, "It's alright."

Naruto seemed to wrestle with what to do. He wasn't sure how to respond to this woman that could worm her way through his barriers in a way nobody else had ever been able to do. As his eyes flitted this way and that, Tsubaki leaned in and kissed Naruto on his other cheek, bringing his attention back to her and stopping his panicked fidgeting.

After lingering there for a few seconds, she pulled back and stared into his eyes again. Smiling just as softly, her eyes flowing with even more tears than before, she told him once more, this time a little more urgently, "It's alright."

Feeling his barriers begin to break even further, and panic begin to arise anew, Naruto closed his eyes and forcibly wrenched his gaze and his head away from her. Tsubaki, however, would have none of that. She let go of his hand and brought both hands up to his cheeks. Cupping his face in her hands, she gently yet forcibly brought his face back around to meet hers as she threw herself forward while pulling him towards her, smashing her lips into his own.

Naruto froze, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted that he had allowed the popsicle to drop from his hand. He gasped as he felt the woman's tongue snake into his mouth. As Naruto's own tongue instinctively danced with hers, he could feel one of her hands making its way to the back of his head with a looser grip on him. Tsubaki's sobs could be heard through her kiss, and somehow Naruto knew what she was trying to tell him. This kiss was not only a show of affection and an attempt at comfort, but a plea to let her in – into his heart, into his thoughts, and at least right now, into his life.

Tsubaki finally pulled away slowly, tears still streaming down her face. Naruto just look on, stunned, confused, yet still shedding silent tears. Tsubaki started gently stroking his face with the hand that was still on his cheek.

"It's alright, Naruto…it's alright," she said once more, this time her tone a pleading one. Naruto understood her words, now. She wanted him to know that he was safe with her. It was alright for him to let his walls down and be who he really was - to express and let out what he really felt. It was alright for him to grieve the way he needed to grieve, and to allow this woman to support and comfort him through it.

So many things went through Naruto's mind at that point. Why was this beautiful, precious creature going so far out of her way to help him? What about him made her think he was worth her while? What was it about her that she seemed to know him well enough to get to his fragile, wounded heart? The answer came as quickly as the questions did: she knew because she could relate. He wasn't sure about the recognition she always seemed to show him before, but right now, he knew where she could relate to him – she'd lost her daughter, the closest person to her as well.

Right now, she knew exactly how he felt. She also knew exactly what he needed to be able to do to work his way through this, as well. Unable to hold back the torrent of feelings any longer, he began to break down and lean into her, sobs forcing themselves up from his throat. She brought him into a warm, tight, comforting embrace, kissing the side of his face that was next to hers while doing so and sobbing with him.

"It's alright…it's alright…" she whispered to him softly as he began to bawl and wail, wrapping his own arms around her and clinging to her as though his life depended on it. She never imagined she would hear such heart-wrenching cries from this man; this seemingly unbreakable spirit. Even when the Third had died, Naruto's reaction wasn't anything like this. She just let him cry into her. She sat there as he sobbed into first her shoulder, and then into her blouse-clad bosom. She held him there, whispering sweet words of comfort to him, crying with him as he let out the anguish and grief that was almost overwhelming him.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Naruto had cried himself out. He got up off the woman, noting where he was; he looked at her slowly, seeing her own tear-stained, puffy face and laughing sheepishly.

"Err…sorry…"

"Naruto, it's alright…" she interrupted gently, her own tears not having stopped yet.

Naruto, not knowing what to make of her expression, tried to excuse himself, "Well…err…I appreciate what you just did for me. I…guess I should be getting home now…"

"No!" Tsubaki said forcefully, grabbing his hand before he could leave, "Naruto…I'm not leaving you alone, tonight."

Naruto frowned in confusion at her.

"Come with me…" Tsubaki gently ordered, standing up and leading him by the hand. Too tired to argue, Naruto allowed himself to be pulled along by Tsubaki. After pulling him into the streets, Tsubaki pulled him into another quick hug and used shunshin to teleport back to her apartment. When they reappeared, Naruto took a few seconds to get his bearings and acquaint himself to his location. He could see the Hokage Tower close by, off to the right of what he guessed was Tsubaki's apartment building, letting him know where he was.

Tsubaki quickly unlocked her apartment and led Naruto inside. After seeing her close and lock her front door, Naruto voiced his confusion, "Tsubaki, not that I mind, but…why have you brought me here?"

"Because you don't need to be by yourself right now; please…just take the word of someone who knows," she pleaded with him softly yet urgently. She then went through what Naruto guessed was her routine for when she arrived home after a hard day at work: removing her sandals, checking for messages delivered while she was out, and various other mundane tasks.

"Make yourself at home, okay? I'll be done in a few minutes," she offered.

Naruto sighed and nodded, seating himself down on one of her couches in her living room. Not knowing what to do or say, he settled for leaning his head back against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. His mind's eye flooded his thoughts with images of Jiraiya – times they'd laughed together, special moments they'd experienced during their training trip, times when they both had to flee for their lives from righteously angry women that the pervert had peeked on, as all the while Jiraiya shouted that he regretted nothing. Naruto's memories seemed to fixate on the times when Jiraiya had bought and shared double-stick popsicles with him. Tears once again came unbidden to Naruto's eyes as a few sobs escaped his throat once more.

After a few moments of this, a soft hand to his face caused him to open his eyes once more. His gaze fell upon Tsubaki, who had come over to him once she'd heard his sobs again. While no longer in tears the way he was, her eyes were still filled with a knowing pain for him. She took both of his hands in hers and pulled. Naruto stood up and allowed him to lead her through her apartment through a hallway and into a door. When Naruto saw a queen-sized bed, his eyes went wide as he turned his gaze to her. She gently turned him around so that he was now walking backwards, and instead of pulling him, she was now gently pushing him into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"Tsubaki…" Naruto began, only to be interrupted by her raising a finger to his lips, followed by a gentle kiss. That kiss was followed by several more, and within a few moments, Tsubaki was working Naruto's shirt off of his body.

"Is this a good idea?" Naruto barely whispered out, unable to process how he should react, tears still flowing from his eyes in the grief that his memories of Jiraiya brought on.

"Not important right now…" Tsubaki answered as she proceeded kissing him once more while lifting his shirt off of him. It wasn't long before both of them were in nothing but their undergarments. Naruto was still shedding tears, while Tsubaki was running her hands all over Naruto's exposed upper body, her kisses, while still gentle, had turned from chaste to passionate as she began using her tongue to play with his own once more.

"Just let go, Naruto…I've invited you into my home…" she spoke between kisses as she gently pushed Naruto onto her bed, "…I've invited you into my bed. Please…let me comfort you tonight."

**(Lemon)**

Tsubaki removed her bra and panties slowly, exposing her naked body to Naruto. Naruto, no longer able to think straight with the tempest of emotions raging through him, relented to her request and removed his boxers.

Despite both of them being completely exposed before each other, they hadn't broken eye-contact. Tender, caring chocolate-brown eyes stared into dazzling electric blue pools. Tsubaki got into the bed on her knees, and slowly moved to straddle the blond as he sat with his back against the headboard. Tsubaki's hands continued exploring his body as she looked deep into his eyes and continued kissing him lovingly. Naruto began to kiss her in turn. After a few moments, he pulled back and drank in her beautiful form, his hands apprehensively reaching out to touch her.

She took his hands in her own, bringing his gaze back to her face. The warmth and acceptance that he saw in her sparkling brown pools caused his apprehension to melt away. She brought his hands to her thighs and began to guide them across her skin…up her legs, over her hips and rear, and upwards…around her back, over her sides and towards her front, bringing them to stop on her supple breasts. She leaned in and began to kiss him again.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes to look at him once more, and seeing his nervousness, she asked softly, "Are you alright?"

"I…err…I don't…know," he admitted honestly.

"Naruto," she brought a hand up to his face and began to stroke his cheek again, "This is all for you. We don't have to do anything that you're uncomfortable with, okay? I know that this must be confusing, but I want you to understand: this is an act of comfort and love…okay? You're not obligated to do this now, and I'm not going to hold you to anything in the future as a result of what does or doesn't happen here tonight. Do you understand?"

Naruto's breathing and pulse began to quicken as he saw the love and sincerity that her eyes presented to him. He nodded in response to her question as he slowly leaned up towards her face and kissed her just as gently and as passionately as she had done to him. After a few minutes, he leaned back and continued looking into her eyes, his hands never having left her breasts the entire time.

"Are you alright with this? Are you willing to trust me?" Tsubaki asked gently.

Naruto smiled as warmly as he could and nodded slowly. Tsubaki thought it best to keep things simple tonight, given Naruto's evident lack of experience with sexual intimacy and the turbulent instability of the emotional roller-coaster that the next few days were sure to be for him. Without saying another word, she got off him and rolled over to the nightstand on her side of the bed. Opening the drawer, she pulled out a bottle that Naruto saw was labeled as sexual lubricant before closing it. Opening the bottle and putting some of the slick, oily fluid into her right hand, she reached down to his hard shaft and began to apply it slowly and gently, rubbing her hand and fingers up and down, making sure she covered it all.

His twitches at the contact of her warm, soft hand were not lost on Tsubaki, and neither were the involuntary moans that escaped him every few seconds. She smiled as she thought about how good this would feel for him. Once she saw that his manhood was sufficiently lubricated to provide comfortable entry into her canal, she straddled the blond youth once more, lining his tip to her entrance. Scooting forward slightly, she kissed him once more as she gently lowered herself onto him, bringing gasps from both of them as they became one. Tsubaki leaned into Naruto, wrapping her arms around him, one around his back, the other around his neck holding his head to her shoulder.

Naruto's hands came forward and snaked their way around her back, holding her to him while gently caressing the velvety flesh of the brunette's back, occasionally strumming his fingers through her silky honey-colored locks. She started kissing him once more as she began to slowly move up and down upon his shaft.

Not a word was said between the two. The only sounds that came forth from them were gasps and moans that were soft and sensual, their coupling a slow, sensual, intimate dance instead of a fast romp. Tears began to come forth from Naruto's eyes yet again; this time, he wasn't sure why. Tsubaki seemed to understand as she smiled at him, bring the hand around his head towards his face, kissing him as she continued her slow steady rise and fall, moving every so often to kiss the tears off of his face.

After a few minutes, Naruto's hands went from her back to her glutes as he instinctively began to guide her up-and-down motions with his hands, lifting and relaxing in time with her own bounces onto his member. Before long, Naruto's impending climax made itself known as his moans became louder. Tsubaki, sensing his impending release, leaned more tightly into him, holding him more tightly to herself. Naruto yelled in a groan from the back of his throat as he ejaculated into Tsubaki's womb, the feel of Naruto's seed filling her triggering her own climax as she yelled out in release, soaking Naruto's groin with her own juices.

**(Lemon End)**

Both of them took a few moments to recover, spent from the act they had just engaged in. They held each other tightly for a few minutes as they came back down, Tsubaki kissing him softly all the while, before she slowly separated herself from Naruto. She got out of the bed and pulled him out as well before moving to get the covers stained with their fluids off of the bed. She took the sopping linens and blankets and placed them into a hamper before retrieving fresh bedding from her closet and redressing the bed. After the bed was remade, she pulled back the covers and got under them, gently taking Naruto's hand and pulling him into the bed with her.

"Are you alright, honey?" she asked once he was situated, stroking his face and hair once more, giving him a gentle, loving smile.

"Yeah…I am. I think I'm okay…at least for now," he responded, smiling back, though a few tears still continued to flow down his face.

"Let's just go to sleep for now; it's been a long day, and we can talk more in the morning," Tsubaki suggested. Naruto nodded, and reached around to the lamp on the nightstand at his side of the bed, turning it off and laying down on his back. Tsubaki leaned into his side, draping her leg over his own and laying her head and hand on his chest.

"Good night, sweetheart," she whispered softly, kissing his chest.

"Good night…princess," he whispered back, bringing an arm around her and holding her more closely to himself. Both of them drifted off into a peaceful slumber, seemingly given a reprieve from life's current troubles…

* * *

**And that's Chapter 4! This was my first ever lemon – I didn't actually plan to write one for this story, but it just seemed to fit, here, and the context of it does add to what I want to do with the story. I won't ever write a lemon scene just to write a lemon scene – if it doesn't actually enhance or compliment the overall story I'm telling, I won't add it in. That's just for future reference.**

**Also, in case you're wondering, the seeming "over-quickness" of the two of them jumping into bed together ****is by design****. It was NOT an oversight**** on my part. There was a reason for it, and there is a reason that it happened as seemingly quickly as it did. It will all make sense next chapter.**

**Please, read, review, tell me how you think I did.**


	5. I Know What I See, Now What?

**Disclaimer: ncpfan, sadly, does not own Naruto. The only thing he owns (at least as far as this story goes) is the storyline itself, and this story's rendition of Tsubaki (Kenpi is a last name that I picked out for her – it means 'condition of health' – fitting for a medic, I think).**

**Thanks to all of you who have reviewed! Please continue doing so!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: I Know What's Really There, Now What?**

* * *

Tsubaki came to consciousness, noticing the cool of the room against her bare breasts and stomach more than she normally would. It felt as though she had just been relieved of her source of warmth. Remembering how she fell asleep, she opened her eyes fully and looked around the room, wondering where Naruto had disappeared to. Her eyes came to rest on his silhouette surrounded by the moonlight and starlight making its way through her bedroom window. Naruto had apparently drawn the drapes back so that he could look out into the quiet of the night. His back was turned to her, and she had noted that he had put his boxers back on.

She quietly arose from her bed and found the white panties that she had stripped out of before she and Naruto had made love. Picking them up off the floor and putting them on, she quietly walked over to Naruto and snaked her arms underneath his, rubbing her hands around his chest and stomach as she hugged him from the back and pressed her naked breasts into him. Being the exact same height as him, she found the crook between his neck and shoulder to be a perfect place to rest her chin.

"Can't sleep?" Tsubaki asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"No…" Naruto answered just as softly while shaking his head, putting his hands and arms over Tsubaki's and holding them to himself as he stared out the bedroom window into the dark watches of the early morning.

"Ryo for your thoughts?" Tsubaki offered, expressing her desire for him to open up to her.

Naruto smirked as he turned his head to face her and retorted playfully, "Now I know I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but is one ryo really all my thoughts are worth?"

"Ermm…five ryo?" she countered with a soft laugh.

Naruto laughed back, "You drive a hard bargain, you know that, Tsubaki?"

Both of them simply shared a contented laugh at their little inside joke before stopping. Naruto turned his gaze back out the window, and Tsubaki pressed once more, "Please, Naruto…tell me what's on your mind?"

"A lot of things, really…" Naruto answered honestly, "…times with the Pervy Sage, lessons he taught me, learning about his death, the things I said to Grandma Tsunade when she told me about it…" at this, Naruto grew quiet, hanging his head for a few moments before continuing in a whisper, "…oh, Tsubaki, I said some awful things to her…"

He felt the woman tighten her grip, effectively interrupting his thoughts. He tightened his own grip on her hands and arms.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked after a few more moments of silence. She noticed his stiffening at the question.

"Err…aww, I dunno…" Naruto responded apprehensively, his voice coming up in volume slightly.

"It'll help…" Tsubaki offered, "…and if you're worried about what I'll think because of anything you said, I promise I won't judge you for it."

Naruto sighed before nodding, "I…I told her that if the Pervy Sage had been Hokage in her place, he never would have let her go to the Hidden Rain. I…" his voice began to break as fresh tears came, "…I basically told her his death was her fault. I didn't even stop to…" Naruto's voice completely broke as the unbidden sob burst forth from his throat, "…to think about what I was saying, and who I was talking to."

He finished as his voice finally lost. Tsubaki could feel his body shaking as it wracked with fresh sobs that came forth, though those sobs remained quiet ones. She let Naruto go and turned him around, holding him from the front. He continued sobbing into the woman, wrapping his own arms around her and soaking the skin on her neck and shoulder with his tears.

"Oh, Kami, Tsubaki, I'm so ashamed," Naruto admitted through his sobs as he continued clinging to the woman who held him.

Tsubaki pulled out of the embrace and led him back to the bed with an arm around his shoulders; he followed the instructions that her gentle prods and pushes were giving to him. Once they had both returned to the warmth of the covers, she held him once more, stroking his hair gently and making soft shushing noises all the while.

A few minutes later found Naruto calmer; his sobs had subsided, though his tears were still flowing and he was still sniffling. He picked his head back up, and Tsubaki brought her hand up to his face, caressing it tenderly.

"Naruto…" Tsubaki began, garnering his attention, "…Tsunade knows you didn't mean it."

"But still…" he began, closing his eyes and hanging his head.

"Listen to me…" she interrupted him, though he still had his eyes closed and his head hung down.

"Naruto, please, look at me," she urged softly. He slowly raised his head and opened his eyes.

Once she saw that she had his attention, Tsubaki continued with a reassuring smile, "Tsunade knows you're not a cruel person. She also knows that there are things you don't know about Master Jiraiya's mission."

Naruto frowned at this, "Like what?"

"Like the fact that Tsunade didn't send him there; he followed a hunch he had about where he might find the Akatsuki. In fact, she urged him not to go, because she had a feeling that it would end badly."

Naruto gasped at this, beginning to realize the implications of what he'd accused Tsunade of. Tsubaki continued patiently, "Master Jiraiya went anyway – you know that Tsunade wouldn't have been able to stop him. But she also told him to send word to her if he wound up getting in over his head…" she stroked his face a little more pointedly to make sure she had his undivided attention, "…and she would run to his side, herself. Word never reached her of his need for help; we only got word of his death from one of the toads, along with some kind of message."

"Oh, dear Kami, no…" Naruto quietly lamented, before beginning to panic, "…I have to talk to her…"

"Naruto…" Tsubaki interrupted him once more, bringing his attention back to her, before pressing on in the same calm, gentle, quiet tone she'd used since she got out of bed, "…I told you, she already knows that you didn't mean anything you said. Just think about it for a minute. Did she react at all when you said those things to her?"

Naruto thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"Did she even get angry with you?"

Naruto shook his head again.

"That should tell you something. She didn't get angry, and she didn't brain you for what you said to her," she finished with a smirk.

Naruto looked at her smirk and laughed sheepishly in response, "Yeah…I guess you're right."

Tsubaki nodded before adopting a caring yet serious expression, "But there is something you should learn from this: you can't let your emotions get the better of you."

Naruto gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of frustration, though he responded in an even tone, "I know you're right…but…I've always had a very hard time with that."

She frowned in concern, though she nodded understandingly, "I know…and I know that life hasn't been easy for you; I'm sure that's a contributor to your impulsive nature. I'll tell you something, Naruto – it's not bad to listen to your impulses, or to act on impulse at times. You wouldn't be the adventurous soul that you are if you didn't. And there are also times when anger is an appropriate impulse to act upon. But…and this is one of the things that makes a good Chunin…" she smiled internally when she saw that this grabbed Naruto's full attention, "…it's important to know when to act on your instincts, and when not to."

Naruto's face softened into a confused frown, "What do you mean?"

"Think about it this way: with what we've done tonight, and with where we are right now, I'm following my gut as much as you are; I've never done anything so impulsive before, but it just feels right, doesn't it?"

He nodded, his frown softening as he began to understand.

Tsubaki continued, "But at the same time, words spoken on a hair trigger have been the cause of more harm, death and destruction than probably anything else on earth. The destructive power of uncontrolled angry speech…I don't think I can put into words just how immense it is. Most actions of hatred and destruction are usually either triggered by or preceded by words of hatred and anger. I'll bet it was someone's words, spoken who-knows-how-long ago, that ultimately brought about the situation our village is in right now: with the Akatsuki, with the turmoil we're currently experiencing, with who we regard as friend or foe…"

Naruto's eyes suddenly became alight with understanding. Tsubaki drove the point home with one specific instance, "And if you need a more concrete example, consider Sakura Haruno."

Naruto frowned once more, this time with curiosity as he wondered where she was going with that.

She explained herself, "Her own quirks caused her to hit you…a lot. What she didn't stop to think about was the fact that she was doing you grievous bodily injury. When you were in the hospital, and Tsunade performed that technique that relieved the pressure in your head? Remember?"

Naruto nodded, prompting Tsubaki to continue.

She did, "Well, Sakura had caused your brain to bruise and swell because she kept hitting you around your head. Naruto…if it had been anyone else…she would have killed them…" Naruto's eyes went wide at this, "…it was plain luck that she didn't cause you to have a stroke or worse. Are you beginning to see just how harmful unrestrained impulsive behavior can be?"

Naruto nodded after a few seconds before finding his voice once more, responding in an astonished whisper, "Yeah…I didn't realize just how damaging being careless could be, but since you put it that way…"

Tsubaki smiled at Naruto, proud that she had just helped him learn a very valuable life lesson, "Sometimes, all it takes to make a lasting change in perspective and character is realizing the importance of the lesson. I have a feeling that we're going to see a much more restrained, thoughtful and self-controlled Naruto Uzumaki from now on."

Naruto nodded solemnly, understanding…maybe for the first time ever…the importance of the lesson that so many others had tried to teach him. Jiraiya had tried to teach him this very lesson with regards to his stubborn, unyielding pursuit of Sasuke Uchiha, but it hadn't been presented in a way that he could really grasp it. Kakashi had tried to use experience to teach him this lesson – with his first Bell Test and the number of times he'd fallen into traps…or being victim to the nightmarish "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death"…a jutsu that he had actually found to be quite useful and versatile when used creatively…but Kakashi hadn't effectively followed up on the lesson and explained it to him.

Tsubaki had not only explained it to him, but had referred to specific examples from his own experience that he could draw upon to put the lesson into its proper context. This was something for which Naruto would find himself forever grateful to the woman currently laying next to him. A content smile came unbidden to Naruto's face as Tsubaki resituated herself in the bed, leaning back into him as they had been when they'd fallen asleep a few hours before.

"Are you okay, now?" she asked.

"Yeah…I'm tired, again, too," he responded.

"It's going to be like that for you for a little while…the ups and downs, erratic sleep. It's what happens when you lose someone who's critically important to you. I'm sure there's more on your mind, but we can talk more in the morning, huh?"

"Yeah…right now, I'm okay. I'm content…and I'm glad I'm here with you," his exhaustion could be heard in his voice as he lay back down, sleep beginning to overtake him once more.

He smiled a little wider as he felt Tsubaki lean up to kiss his cheek, "Good night, honey."

"Good night, princess," Naruto whispered as his mind relinquished consciousness to the blissful hold of slumber…

* * *

When the sun's light intruded through the bedroom window, it was Tsubaki who was the first to awaken. Bleary-eyed, but feeling well-rested, she turned her gaze to her bedmate's face. She couldn't help but smile lovingly at the peaceful expression that slumber had seemed to grant him.

Determined not to disturb his slumber, she slowly and carefully lifted herself out of the bed, and out of his embrace. She quickly walked over to the drapes and pulled them closed; she didn't want to give anyone in Konoha a free show, after all. That right, as of last night, was Naruto's alone. Having closed the curtains, she made her way to her bathroom so that she could shower and go through her morning hygiene rituals.

As she brushed her teeth, she thought about the previous night. She thought of the heartache that was all over Naruto's face – the likes of which she'd never before seen on him. She couldn't help but wonder: where were all of his friends in all of this? Did nobody come up to him and offer him any kind of comfort or assurances that they'd be there for him? Sakura called him her friend, despite the fact that she frequently beat him up – where was she? Hinata Hyuuga was always nearby Naruto when she could be, watching him, and she professed to love Naruto – where was she? What about others? Where was his sensei, Kakashi? Where were the others who graduated with him? What about Konohamaru and his two friends?

What about Iruka? Well, she could probably let Iruka's absence slide – teaching at the Academy all day was not an easy job, and it left him with very little time. She'd go by and talk to him about it, but he was probably trying to find Naruto even now. She felt she should let the scar-faced Chunin know Naruto's whereabouts, and that he was being well cared for right now.

One part of her was disappointed in Naruto's so-called friends, while another part of her was almost happy that nobody had come up to him. She was glad to be the first, and if she hadn't been…would last night have happened? It may very well not have, and she couldn't have been happier that it had…but at the same time, she found herself frightened of what the future might hold for her, for him…for them.

As she entered her shower and turned the hot water on, she smiled as she thought about her blond lover…

'_Lover? Is that what Naruto is to me? I know what I see in him, but I don't really know what__ we are to each other; it's like the term "lover" doesn't do it justice,'_ she mused to herself, both curious and a bit nervous as to how she should approach this situation they were now in. There were no regrets on her part, but she knew that given Naruto's delicate emotional state, and especially his lack of experience with women, she would have to handle this very delicately.

'_The more I think about it, the more I realize that…I do love him…but how did this happen? I've never known anything like the bon__d I have with this incredible young man,' _she mused, finding herself more and more in awe of the depth of her bond with Naruto.

She pondered this as she went through the motions of washing her body and her hair. Her musings on the love she had developed for the young man who was currently asleep in her bed had caused her to lose track of time. Before she knew it, she had washed herself completely. Turning off the water and pulling a towel from the rack on the wall, she began to dry herself off. After she was dry, she wrapped her still-damp hair in the towel, picked up the panties she'd walked in wearing, and left the bathroom without anything covering her body.

Naruto began to stir as Tsubaki quietly pulled a clean bra and panties from her dresser after depositing last night's pair in her hamper. Before she put them on, she turned to see Naruto stirring and rubbing his eyes. She walked over to the bed and kissed him on the lips for a few seconds.

Once she pulled away, she greeted him, "Good morning, Naruto."

"Hey, Tsubaki…good morning," as he opened his eyes, he saw her state of dress and immediately blushed, turning his head on impulse and clenching his eyes shut. The feeling of Tsubaki's hand resting on his cheek caused him to open his eyes and turn his gaze back to her.

She had the same warm, loving smile on her face that she kept bestowing on him last night, and he could see the same warmth, love, acceptance and sincerity in her eyes as well. She moved forward to kiss him once more, this time holding it for a few seconds longer while caressing his face. She pulled away a few moments after she felt him relax and gazed into his eyes once again.

"Naruto," she began, "You can look at me all you want. You can touch me all you want…anywhere you want. You don't need to look away or be embarrassed if I have nothing on. I told you last night – I invited you into my home, and I invited you to share my bed with me. I have nothing to hide from you…okay?"

Naruto nodded slowly, a content expression adorning his features. Tsubaki gave him another long, lingering kiss to show her sincerity to him. He relaxed a little more a few seconds into the kiss before pressing his lips back into hers. She pulled away before gently pressing her hand into his face affectionately.

"Why don't you go ahead and get cleaned up while I make some breakfast for us? You can use my toothbrush."

"Err…wha?"

"Naruto, given the fact that we shared all kinds of…fluids…with each other last night, do you really think sharing a toothbrush is that big of a deal?" Tsubaki asked pointedly.

Naruto laughed sheepishly, "Not if you put it that way. Thanks."

"You're welcome; now go on and freshen up."

Naruto nodded, making his own way into Tsubaki's bathroom. Tsubaki just put the panties that she'd pulled out of her dresser on while putting the bra back for now. She settled for a red silk robe with a black sash sown into it at the waist, the robe itself ending at mid-thigh. Pulling the robe on and tying it closed, she went into her living room and began to write a note to Tsunade, requesting a few days' leave. Once she was done with this, she pulled the towel out of her hair and began to brush it using the hairbrush she kept by her vanity. After she had made her hair reasonably presentable, she took the scroll that she had just written and placed it in the shinobi mail drop just outside her door. She sent some chakra into the seal on the drop box for a messenger bird to come and take the note to Hokage Tower.

Once that was done, she went into the kitchen and began to prepare a kettle of green tea. While the tea was brewing, she began to cook a standard fare of eggs, rice and a few meats and stir-fry vegetables for the two of them to enjoy. As she did this, her thoughts went back to the blond who was currently freshening up in her bathroom. She marveled again at the idea: she knew what she saw in him, and she knew what was there between them, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out just how it happened.

Not that she minded, by any stretch…she was rather happy with the current development. It had been sixteen years since she'd had a companion to warm her bed. If there was one thing to be said for Tsubaki Kenpi, it was that she's very selective about whom she'd bring into her bed. And the fact that her current bedmate was a man like Naruto Uzumaki of all people only sweetened the idea in her mind.

She heard the sound of a sharp inhale, followed by Naruto's voice saying, "Ahh…that smells heavenly!"

"Glad you think so," Tsubaki responded with a smile, though not turning around to look at him, "Go ahead and sit at the table; this'll be ready in a minute."

"You sure there's nothing I can do to help you?"

"Well, if you want, you can get the pitcher to my right, here, and put some ice and water in it. Other than that, the best way you can help me is to just enjoy my cooking."

Naruto chuckled at her response and did as instructed. Tsubaki saw that he was still in nothing but his boxers, even after showering. Once he'd prepared the ice-water pitcher and gotten two glasses from the cupboards, he brought them to the table, put them at two adjacent places and sat down, patiently waiting on Tsubaki to finish. After a few moments, Tsubaki finished cooking and prepared two plates of food. Bringing them to the table with two sets of chopsticks, she went back and got the now-finished tea with two teacups and brought them to the table, placing one at Naruto's place, and the other at her own. Both of them gave thanks for their breakfast and began to eat, though Tsubaki waited for Naruto to pass sentence on the first bite.

When Naruto ate the first bite, the flavors overloaded his taste buds in such a manner as to cause his eyes to roll back into his head, "Wow…I never thought I'd taste something so delicious that it would rival Teuchi's ramen…" he opened his eyes and looked at his hostess, who was smiling from ear to ear, "…Tsubaki…this is amazing!"

Tsubaki blushed and beamed at Naruto's praise before digging in, herself. Breakfast was a pleasant affair for the two of them, Tsubaki deliberately keeping conversation topics light knowing that Naruto needed to be able to think about things that weren't too heavy or deep during a time such as this - the heavy and deep thoughts would come on their own…unbidden. Both of them found the laughter to be refreshing – Naruto, as he could still feel some joy during his time of loss, Tsubaki, as she just found that she loved to see Naruto's genuine smile and hear him laugh.

After breakfast was finished, Tsubaki tried to take the dishes and clean them up, but Naruto insisted that she allow him to. Before she could object, he had already created two shadow clones that began washing and drying the dishes.

"So, err…" Naruto began, "…what now?"

"Well," Tsubaki started, "I've just requested a few days leave so I can be with you."

"Really?" Naruto asked, surprised, "How come?"

Tsubaki leaned towards Naruto and placed a hand on his knee, "Because I know what you're going through, and I know that while you will need to be alone at times, you're also going to need someone there with you who can relate…and you'll need that someone more than you know."

Naruto could hear the urgent yet calm sincerity in her voice. Looking into her eyes, he could see the pain that she was reminded of at the loss of her daughter. But it was more than that…she was hurting with him, she was mourning with him, grieving with him. Strangely enough, he found the fact that someone knew his pain and could feel it with him to be very comforting. And yet, there was also something deeper – almost as though his heart could find true rest with this woman. She could see what he was feeling, and even who he was beneath all of the walls he had put up around himself, and beneath the layers of emotional defense that he had built over years – and once penetrated, she didn't attack; she instead sought to protect the vulnerable person within – to support him, and even to strengthen him.

She moved from her chair and into his lap, straddling him as she faced him in his chair. He instinctively brought his arms around the woman to hold her in place and also to hold her to himself. His breathing quickened as she brought her hand up towards his head and strummed her fingers through his hair, though he frowned in confusion.

Noting his confusion, Tsubaki asked him, "What's the matter?"

"I…don't really know," Naruto admitted, "I guess I'm just not sure what to think or what to do right now."

"Well, what's the biggest thing bothering you right now?"

"I wouldn't so much say I'm 'bothered' as much as I'm…'confused'. I mean, what do _**we**_ do from here? How did we come to be where we are? I mean…"

"Do you regret it, Naruto?" she asked with concern, interrupting his train of thought.

"No, no…please don't get the wrong idea…" he quickly reassured her, rubbing his arms up and down her silk-clad back, eventually bring them to rest on her upper arms as he held her steady, "…I don't regret it at all; I guess I just…" Naruto clenched his eyes shut and shook his head back and forth in frustration, sighing in quiet exasperation before he finished, "…Kami, there's so much stuff swimming in my head right now, I don't even know where to begin talking about it."

A soft hand to his face stilled his head. He opened his eyes to gaze into Tsubaki's own. The care, concern and acceptance in her eyes were all as plain as day to him; he also saw sincerity and…longing. But longing for what, exactly? Was it longing for him? That was part of it, certainly, but he could see that there was more to it than that. Longing for…his own acceptance of her? Longing to help him? Longing to know his mind and heart? He could see it all…and he still didn't understand how it was possible.

Tsubaki spoke up after a few more moments of silence, "You're hurt, you're angry, you're sad, you're ashamed, you're content, you're ecstatically happy, and you're scared all at the same time. You're also confused about feeling everything at once and you're frustrated because you don't know what to do with any of it. How am I doing?"

Naruto's eyes had steadily kept getting wider as she identified everything he was feeling. She wasn't wrong on a single count.

"H-how?" he stuttered out, stunned at her seemingly-psychic ability to read him.

She smiled at him before leaning in to gently and chastely kiss him. Once she pulled away, she answered his question, "There's an old saying: 'The eyes are the gateway to the soul'. And I've looked into your eyes enough times to know what's really behind them…" she stopped as she saw his eyes alight with understanding before she smiled and continued, "…you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Naruto's face slowly softened into a smile, "Yeah…yeah, I do. I can see…so many things in your eyes, even now, and…I don't know how it's even possible. You know, if it was anyone but you, I'd feel…a bit edgy at how we're able to read each other. But…knowing that it's you, it feels…nice. It feels…right, somehow."

Tsubaki leaned in, closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his own, "I understand. I feel just as safe and comfortable with you, as well. I love how we can both really see each other; it's as new to me as it is to you, believe it or not."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I never even had this kind of connection with my husband when he was still alive."

A few moments of silence followed before Naruto posed yet another question, "So…what now?"

She frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, given what we did last night…I guess I'm just…not sure what this all means, you know?"

Tsubaki, as though expecting such a question, asked knowingly, yet with a little apprehension, "What do you want it to mean?"

"Huh?" Naruto responded in his confusion.

"Naruto…" Tsubaki explained, "…I don't have the first clue as to what the future holds for either of us. And if I'm honest with myself…that does scare me…" Naruto could see the apprehension in her eyes as she admitted that.

"But I don't want you to be scared…" Naruto offered gently, "…what about it scares you?"

"A lot of things," Tsubaki admitted, "I don't know if this is really well-founded or not, but you're only sixteen, and you've got your whole life ahead of you. I'm about to be thirty, and…well, I'm scared that I might hold you back from what you can really be in some ways…"

"What would make you think something like that?" Naruto asked, his tone soft, yet his surprise was evident, "…I can tell you're not just trying to let me down easy; what's the real issue?"

"Before I answer that, I want you to answer a question for me…" upon seeing Naruto's nod, she asked, "…right now, how do you think of us? How long do you want whatever we seem to have to last?"

"Well, I don't really know what we are…at least to each other. But if I could have it my way…Tsubaki, I don't ever want to stop being involved with you this way. In fact, the only way I'd want for this to change is for it to grow stronger."

"Naruto, believe me…I know you feel that way now, and I know that your feelings are genuine…" Tsubaki paused for a moment, once more looking him dead in the eye, "…but I also know that in a time of emotional turmoil, you can feel things that aren't lasting, despite how strong they might be. But don't you deserve someone who'll likely live just as long as you will? Don't you deserve a woman who can…"

"Tsubaki, that's enough," Naruto interrupted calmly, "If you must know, I ask myself what I've done to deserve a woman as amazing and as special as you. I know how I feel, but I'm afraid to tell you because I don't want to do something that might scare you off, you know?"

Tsubaki, in her surprise, asked, "Naruto, how do you feel about me?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes, I want to know. I _**need**_ to know," she answered, quietly yet desperately.

"I love you…" he admitted without so much as hesitating, "…that's the only word I know that can begin to describe it, but…I don't know, even that doesn't seem like a strong enough word to use…" Naruto trailed off, looking into her eyes once more, and surprisingly finding ecstatic joy at his admission to her, tears beginning to well in her eyes as she smiled widely, biting her lower lip anxiously.

His resolve strengthened by what he saw, he continued, "I thought I loved Sakura once, but honestly, when I'm with you, I think 'Sakura who?'…" Tsubaki laughed at that, "…hey look, you know, we don't have to decide anything now. If you're scared, I don't have any problem taking things slow…there's no rush. But I know this: what I feel for you – I know I'll never feel for any other woman again, and I'll never know anyone else as deeply as I know you."

"And that's another quality about you that enchants me – how wise beyond your years you really are…" Naruto appeared confused at this, though he seemed to be smiling in confusion as opposed to frowning in confusion, as she explained, "…I remember a few years ago; it was before you left on your training trip. I overheard you a few times with Konohamaru and his friends, when you were training them by 'playing ninja' with them…" Naruto's mouth went into an 'O' before setting into a smile, as though he'd just been caught doing something good, "…but I remember the advice you gave them: that there were no shortcuts to power; that if someone wanted to grow strong, they had to do it through hard work and determination, because that was the only worthwhile way to obtain greater power or skill. You showed how wise you were then…and you've shown it again, just now."

Naruto saw the fear and doubt leave her eyes, replaced with a strange, warm, loving resolve, before she pressed on, "I don't know what the future holds for us, but I do know this: I love what we have right here and now. I love _**you**_…far more than I've ever loved anyone else; I love how I know you the same way you know me, and regardless of what might happen in the future, I won't have any regrets."

Tsubaki centered her gaze directly into Naruto's own, "So as of now, I'm yours…for as long as you want me. Every part of me, all that I am – it's yours, if you want me for a week…" she paused to kiss him gently and briefly, "…for a month…" another pause to give him a kiss that was just as gentle, but lingered a little longer, "…or for the rest of my life…" the final pause to give him a loving, gentle but very passionate kiss, as though trying to pour every loving, warm, intense, passionate emotion she felt towards him into it.

Naruto, getting the hint, stood up, Tsubaki standing up with him. Naruto then scooped Tsubaki into his arms, getting a squeal of surprised joy out of her while maintaining the kiss. He then backed into the bedroom, closing the door behind him with his foot…

* * *

Naruto and Tsubaki were both naked in bed, glowing in post-coital bliss. Tsubaki was leaning back against the headboard, two pillows propping her back up and providing her with some cushion against the hard wood. Naruto was laying on his back, leaning against her, his head conveniently laying between the soft mounds of her bosom. His eyes were closed as he smiled contentedly, Tsubaki's arms laying across his front as her fingers lightly played with the skin on his chest.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered to the woman holding him.

Tsubaki's smile could be heard in her response as she whispered back, "You're quite welcome…and thank _**you**_."

"You bet," he responded, still in a whisper.

They lay there for a few moments before Tsubaki asked in a soft voice, "How are you feeling right now?"

"Right now, I feel okay," he replied, "I'm just glad you're here for me."

"Me too, sweetie. Me too," she admitted before offering, "Naruto, how about you and I go out tonight?"

Naruto turned and looked at her bemusingly, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, would you like to give a relationship with me an honest shot?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"That would officially make us a couple, then, wouldn't it?"

"What, you mean, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Oh…" Naruto seemed mystified at the idea that Tsubaki had just presented him, "…well, okay."

"What's wrong?"

"I, err…I don't really know what a boyfriend should do or how he should act…" he answered sheepishly with an embarrassed smile.

Tsubaki laughed warmly before answering, "Honey, what do you think would make me happy, or would make me feel special?"

"Well," Naruto frowned in thought with his eyes closed, something Tsubaki found adorable, as he began to answer, "I think that getting you flowers and holding doors open for you and pulling chairs out for you would do that. I guess…learning what kinds of things you like and getting them for you, and taking you to do things that you like to do…things like that. Speaking of which, what kinds of things do you like, anyway?"

"It sounds to me like you know exactly how a boyfriend should act and what a boyfriend should do. Naruto, all of the things you said would make me feel _**very**_ special. The fact that you want to find those things out makes me feel even more special. I feel special because you're so special…and of all the people you could be with, you'd choose me."

Naruto smiled as she answered him before responding, "I don't know what to say…thank you…for thinking so highly of me; I think I'm the one who's getting the better end of the deal, though…" Tsubaki laughed at this before Naruto finished, "…so then, what would you like to do tonight?"

"I'd like for us to go out for a nice dinner, and maybe just walk around the village and talk. I know the Hokage Monument has a wonderful view at night…" she suggested.

"Well, I, err…I don't really make a whole lot of money as a genin."

"Honey, I'll pay the bill…" Tsubaki reassured him with a smile, "…I know that you don't make much money, and don't worry, I'll give you the money before we go out so that you can 'officially' be the one to pay, okay?"

"Well, okay…" Naruto responded, a bit dejected.

"Naruto…" Tsubaki grabbed his attention, sensing his embarrassment, "…it's okay, really. I'm a jounin who works in the hospital as a medical ninja and a doctor; I make a very good regular salary, and that's aside from mission pay. Please don't feel embarrassed."

"Okay…" Naruto relented with a smile, "…let's do it, then. I'll need to go out and get some nice clothes, though."

"No problem; actually, I could come with you and help you pick some things out, if you want. Nothing but the best for my man."

Naruto laughed, "It's nice having you think of me that way, and one day, it'll be nothing but the best for my woman…on my tab, of course."

"Oh, of course…" Tsubaki added with a laugh, "…but until that day, I'm just happy you're mine, and I'm yours."

"Me too. And who knows…maybe we could end the night just like this, again…" Naruto's eyes widened as he seemed to remember something, "Tsubaki…we didn't use any protection!"

At this, Tsubaki smiled reassuringly, though Naruto could see that her eyes were sad, "Naruto, we don't need it."

Naruto frowned in confusion, "Huh? Why not?"

"Because I can't get pregnant, anymore."

"Oh…I…I'm sorry…"

"It's okay; you didn't know, and it's not your fault. It…happened during the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack. All of the excessive demonic chakra hanging around in the air; it did something to my reproductive system. For some reason, I can't conceive now. I haven't even had a regular cycle in sixteen years. The doctors who examined me aren't sure why, but, there are trace amount of the Nine-Tails chakra in my body, and somehow those traces seemed to come to rest within my ovaries," Tsubaki informed him regretfully before adding, "This is also what I meant by you deserving someone else who could make you happy; I can't give you children, while any other girl could," as she finished, she began to shed a few tears.

"Princess," Naruto began reassuringly, "I'm an orphan; I grew up as an orphan. I have no idea who my parents were, or even if they loved me. That didn't hurt so badly as the fact that nobody wanted to adopt me…" Tsubaki seemed to flinch at that. Naruto continued, "…and while I'm over that for the most part, believe me when I say…when I build a family of my own, adopting was always a part of my plan. I want to be able to take a few kids like that and make sure that they wouldn't have to know the pain I knew as a boy."

Tsubaki's tears became tears of joy at Naruto's admission as he rolled over, brought her down onto the bed to lay flat while facing him and held her tightly. This time, she cried into his shoulder, but in joy, grateful that the issue of her infertility was not an issue to Naruto at all. Both of them had been so absorbed in each other's words and touch that they had failed to notice that they were suddenly not alone.

"Oh my…it appears I came at a bad time…" said a female voice that was very familiar to both of them.

Naruto just stared like a deer into torchlight while Tsubaki turned around and faced her newest visitor, still naked as the day she was born, "Err…hi there, Tsunade…"

* * *

**BUSTED! Uh oh…what's going to happen next? I guess you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out, won't you? Please, my friends, review. I'm very grateful that many of you have set alerts to this story, and that many of you have also marked it in your favorites, but we authors – we LOVE your reviews! We LOVE your feedback! We LOVE your encouragement!**

**Next time – A Few Others Start To See! Stay tuned, and please, REVIEW!**


	6. A Few Others Start To See

**Disclaimer: Naruto ain't mine.**

**Warning: This chapter contains SAPPY moments!**

* * *

**Last time…**

"_Oh my…it appears I came at a bad time…" said a female voice that was very familiar to both of them._

_Naruto just stared like a deer into torchlight while Tsubaki turned around and faced her newest visitor, still naked as the day she was born, "Err…hi there, Tsunade…"_

* * *

**Chapter 6: A Few Others Start to See**

Tsunade noted that Tsubaki hadn't turned around in a panicked fashion. In fact, she turned around rather slowly, and the sickeningly-sweet smile on her face when she faced Tsunade actually unnerved the busty blonde a little. Her bloodshot eyes and tear-stained, puffy cheeks only served to make the smile look even spookier.

"Err…I'm not wearing anything, Tsunade…" Tsubaki offered, placing some emphasis on the woman's name.

"I can see that," Tsunade began somewhat embarrassedly.

After a few moments where nobody moved, Tsubaki began again, with a slight edge to her sweet tone, "Err…Naruto's not wearing anything, either, Tsunade…" one again placing emphasis on her name.

"I…can see that, too," Tsunade responded again.

Tsubaki developed a tick-mark on her forehead as her eyebrow began to twitch. She growled out her next inquiry through gritted teeth, though she kept the spooky-sweet smile, "So then, why are you standing in my bedroom doorway staring at us when it is perfectly clear what we've just been doing…especially when I know the bedroom door was closed…_**Tsunade**_?"

Tsunade, now starting to sweat and blush a little, replied somewhat hastily, "I'll, err…just come back some other time; sorry to have bothered you."

"Tsunade," Tsubaki began quickly, dropping her spooky sweet demeanor, causing the woman to freeze in her tracks while sighing in relief, "Why don't you wait in the living room for us? We'll be out in a couple of minutes. Close the door, please."

"Sure," Tsunade was rather quick to say, and even quicker to comply.

Tsubaki sighed as she turned back to Naruto, "Well, the cat was going to be out of the bag by tonight, anyway; I just didn't expect it to happen quite like that."

"Yeah, no kidding," Naruto responded in a deadpan, "Well, I guess we ought to get dressed."

"Yeah."

With that, the two of them got out of bed and quickly threw on a couple articles. Tsubaki also took a minute to splash some water on her face to remove some of her teary residue. Once they were at least presentable enough, they went into the living room to talk properly with their unexpected visitor, who was sitting on the loveseat. Tsubaki was in the same panties and red silk robe she'd had on before, while Naruto had just thrown on his boxers and pants, leaving his top shirtless.

"Well, good morning," Tsubaki addressed Tsunade as she and Naruto both sat on the couch that was perpendicular to the loveseat while both articles of furniture touched at the corner.

"Good morning…" Tsunade began, clumsily, "…so, err…what's going on with you two?"

"Nothing that isn't mutually consensual, I assure you," Tsubaki answered quickly in a tone that indicated Tsunade should probably leave it at that, "So what brings you by? You're not often here this early in the morning…"

"No, I'm not, and I'm sorry for not knocking on your bedroom door; I know we have our standing policy of walking into each other's homes without having to knock, but I should have known better than to take it that far. Please, forgive me?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sure…just don't do that again, okay? Front door's one thing. Bedroom door? That's an entirely different matter."

Tsunade nodded and looked at Naruto, who was looking down in what seemed to be guilt and shame, who also responded in a somewhat subdued tone, "Err…yeah, it's cool."

Tsubaki, noticing his tone of voice, looked over at him and saw his guilt-ridden posture, and added, "Tell you what – I'm going to spend a little time getting dressed. I think you two could use a few minutes…"

Naruto looked at Tsubaki and smiled in gratitude, while Tsunade simply raised an eyebrow. Tsubaki went into the bedroom and closed the door once more, leaving Naruto alone.

Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto and began to ask, "So, why do we need a few m…"

Her eyes went wide as she was interrupted by Naruto's jumping towards her and clinging to her, his head buried in her chest. She noticed that her top was beginning to soak through, and she realized he was crying.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled through his tears and through his face buried into her bosom, though she could just make out what he was saying, "…I'm so sorry."

Tsunade could only take a few moments to collect herself and wrap her own arms around his back in a clumsy attempt to comfort him.

Naruto continued, "What I said to you yesterday, it was…it was wrong. It was cruel. I was angry…and I just started shooting my mouth off…"

"Naruto, I understand…" Tsunade interrupted him, "…it's alright…"

"No, it's not alright!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly, "I had no right to say what I said to you. You had far more history with the Pervy Sage than I ever did, and I can only imagine how much it must have hurt you to get the news."

Naruto continued crying into her grey gi-top before adding a few moments later, "Please…forgive me."

"I forgave you the moment you said it," Tsunade responded immediately, and Naruto could hear her own voice cracking in her response.

He looked up from her chest and saw that she had started crying as well. This caused more tears of his own to flow as he pulled away from her chest and wrapped the woman into another hug, this time with his head resting in the crook of her neck. Tsunade responded in kind, rewrapping her own arms around him, bring one hand up to the back of his head and kissing his face while crying with him.

"I'm grieving, too, Naruto. I miss him just as much as you do," Tsunade admitted while they continued crying into each other. Neither of them noticed that Tsubaki's bedroom door was slightly ajar, and that she had been spying on their little moment.

'_They both needed this,'_ Tsubaki thought to herself as she quietly closed her door, a smile on her face at the touching moment that her love and her best friend shared with each other. With happy thoughts and a bright outlook, she proceeded to get dressed in a pair of brown feminine shorts with a lime-green sleeveless v-neck form-fitting blouse that she had tucked into her waistline. Upon exiting the room, she saw that Naruto and Tsunade were both still crying in each other's arms. She came around the back of the couch and wrapped her own arms around the pair of them. The two of them seemed to instinctively include Tsubaki in their comforting embrace.

After a few minutes, they all separated from each other, with Naruto and Tsubaki taking the seats that they'd had previously on the sofa while Tsunade was in the loveseat facing the couple.

"So, Naruto told me about what he'd said to you in your office after coming back from his last mission," Tsubaki began, addressing Tsunade, "I told him a few things about Master Jiraiya's mission that he didn't know. Have you two managed to sort everything out?"

"I think so," Tsunade replied before turning to Tsubaki's blond companion, "Naruto?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Tsubaki responded, "So what exactly brought you here at this time in the morning, Tsunade?"

"Your request for leave. Ever since you returned to duty, you've never taken a sick day or even a personal day, so I wanted to come by and find out what was wrong," Tsunade smirked before adding with a teasing chuckle and a mischievous glint in her eye, "And to let you know…I approve your request, wholeheartedly."

Both Naruto and Tsubaki blushed at this. Tsubaki chose to respond sheepishly, "Well, while I appreciate that…that's really not the reason that I asked for the leave…" she trailed off before adopting a more sober expression, "…I requested the leave mostly because I want to help Naruto through this in any way I can."

Tsunade nodded understandingly at Tsubaki's answer, knowing that she was in a way uniquely qualified to help Naruto. Having lost her most precious person, her daughter, recently enough that the pain was still somewhat fresh, she knew, even better than Tsunade did, just what Naruto was going through, Naruto having lost the man who had been in many ways his most precious person. She could also see that, even beyond the obvious, Naruto and Tsubaki shared some kind of connection with each other. It wasn't something tangible that she could point at, but it was definitely there, and it was something remarkable to behold.

She was brought out of her musings when Tsubaki brought her attention back to the moment, "Which brings up another question, Tsunade: where are Naruto's friends right now? He left your office yesterday morning, didn't he? Why was I the first one to make an attempt to help him with this? Because I didn't find him until late last night."

"Well, I can't speak for them, but…" Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto, "…I can tell you that Shikamaru seemed affected by what happened once he got the news. He wasn't oblivious to how it would affect you, either. I've given him an assignment that will likely require your help, so that'll give him an excuse to find you sooner rather than later. He'll track you down in the next day or two."

Naruto smiled softly, "Good old Shikamaru; he always was a stand-up guy."

Tsunade smiled herself at that, glad for Naruto that he had at least one friend she knew he could count on, "So anyway, do you two have plans for later? I'd like to maybe spend some time with you…" she finished in a hopeful tone.

"Actually," Tsubaki answered, "Tonight we'll be going on our first date. I'm going to take Naruto out and about today to help him find some suitable date-wear."

"Ahh, I see…" Tsunade answered knowingly, before continuing after a few moments' pause, "…by any chance, have either of you ever eaten at Phoenix Hall?"

"You mean, the really ritzy restaurant in the Clan district?" Naruto asked in surprise, "I could never afford to eat at that place in a million years!"

Tsunade offered a knowing smile, "I'll make reservations for the two of you at seven tonight. Don't worry about a thing…" she quickly added before Naruto could object, "…I'll take care of all the arrangements and the logistics. All you two need to do is show up."

"Thank you, Tsunade," Tsubaki answered happily, once more before Naruto could object, "We'd be honored to accept such a generous offer."

"Very well, then," Tsunade replied, "Both of you have a wonderful day, and a wonderful evening as well. Naruto, come to my office in three days; there's the matter of Jiraiya's estate to be executed."

"Err, what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"It means that he left a will, and named you an inheritor. He left you a few things."

"Oh…okay," he responded, becoming somber and subdued once more.

"Alright, then, you two," Tsunade said understandingly, "I'll take my leave now. Naruto, I know you have Tsubaki, but if you ever need to talk to someone else about Jiraiya, my door's always open to you…okay?"

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Grandma."

"I'm still not that old, brat. You'd best remember that if you know what's good for ya," Tsunade retorted with a playful smirk. With that, she stood up and showed herself out.

Naruto turned to Tsubaki, asking with a nervous edge, "So, err…how are we going to pay for dinner at Phoenix Hall?"

"Didn't you hear Tsunade? She said she'd handle the logistics. That means she's picking up tonight's tab."

"Oh," Naruto responded as understanding suddenly came to him, "Well, why didn't she just say that?"

Tsubaki giggled before responding, "Come on, you. Let's get cleaned up again so that we can head out."

* * *

Tsubaki had only added a pair of light white-leather strap-on sandals to her outfit upon leaving her apartment. Naruto was wearing the white t-shirt and blue pants she'd found him in last night, along with his ninja sandals. Both of them were walking through the village streets, on their way to get Naruto some nicer clothes. Naruto had never imagined that he'd enjoy clothes shopping, but the idea of doing it with Tsubaki actually promised to be fun in his mind. Naruto suddenly adopted a forlorn expression when he and Tsubaki passed by the convenience store where he'd bought his popsicle the night prior.

"What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked, sensing his depression.

"I bought my popsicle in that store last night."

Tsubaki frowned thoughtfully at his response, "Naruto, what's the significance of that popsicle? I'm making a fairly educated guess here that there's a story behind it."

He smiled sadly and looked downward slightly as he began to explain, "Yeah…there is. You see, when the Pervy Sage and I were looking for Grandma to bring her back here, one of the places we stopped at was Otafuku Town. There was a festival going on at the time, and I remembered seeing a man sharing a double-stick popsicle with his son."

Tsubaki gasped inaudibly and widened her eyes as he continued, "I wondered what it must be like to have a father that cared for you. And it really got me down that I…couldn't even begin to guess. Well, Pervy Sage was also training me in the Rasengan at the time as well, so I left town at that point and went back to training. After a few hours, he'd found no trace of Tsunade there, so he came back and found me. He…" Naruto's voice began to break, tears beginning to stream down his face as his smile, while still sad, became a fond one as well, "…he had one of those popsicles with him, and he shared it with me. That was the first time I had any kind of idea what it must have felt like to have a dad."

Tsubaki began shedding tears of her own, turning Naruto towards herself and hugging him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting his head on her shoulder while kissing has face.

"What a wonderful experience that must have been for you," she ventured in a faraway tone.

After breaking the hug, Tsubaki suddenly had an idea. Grabbing his hand, she smiled and beckoned, "Come with me."

He allowed her to lead him into the convenience store. As they entered, Tsubaki made a beeline for the freezer and started looking. Naruto just stared at her in confusion as she searched the contents of the freezer. After a few moments, her face lit up.

"Yes! There it is!" she exclaimed as she opened the freezer and picked out a white-wrapped frozen treat. Looking at the wrapper, Naruto saw that it was called a "lovesicle". Tsubaki then led him to the cash register and paid for the frozen goodie.

After exiting the store, she led him to the bench where she found him last night. As they sat down, she opened the package in her hand and pulled out a double-stick popsicle that Naruto had never seen before. It was cherry red, and each half of the popsicle was heart-shaped, only connected at the very edge. Tsubaki split it and gave one half of it to Naruto, who took it with an intrigued smile. Naruto also noticed that connected to both halves of the lovesicle was a long string of candy.

"Do you know what the idea behind this is?" Tsubaki asked, referring to the lovesicle they were sharing. Naruto shook his head in the negative.

Tsubaki explained, "Well, the ends of the candy string are frozen inside each heart. When we're through eating the hearts, we start eating the candy string, and we meet in the middle, finishing the lovesicle with a kiss."

Naruto smiled, "I like this thing, already. Let's get started, then."

They both started on their half of the lovesicle. Naruto noticed that the flavor of it was quite a bit richer and sweeter than the popsicles he and Jiraiya used to share. His tongue was flooded with sensations of a rich, sweet, tart, and concentrated raspberry flavor. After a few minutes, both had finished their hearts and started on the string. Tsubaki tried eating the string teasingly slowly, but Naruto just grinned and moved in to kiss his new girlfriend, sucking the string into his mouth as he did so. While their lips were connected, Naruto pushed small amounts of the string into Tsubaki's mouth so that she could enjoy it, too. After two or so full minutes of having their lips locked together, they separated with a smile, Naruto breaking the string in the middle with a chomp before pulling away, both of them laughing together.

They spent the rest of the morning just getting Naruto a few outfits that he could wear out that evening. Tsubaki liked surprises, so she helped him pick out several that he could choose from for the night, and even helped him pay for them. Once they were done, and Naruto had his outfits packed within several suit bags, they stored them into a sealing scroll that Tsubaki had brought along. Once finished, they decided to visit Ichiraku's for lunch, making their way with Tsubaki holding Naruto's arm in both of hers and leaning on it, both of them smiling wistfully. Along the way, they ran into someone that Tsubaki didn't expect to see.

"So, that's how it is for you, now, huh?" asked a bitter, angry female voice. Naruto and Tsubaki both turned to see…

"Ibara?" Tsubaki asked in surprise.

"So you and **him**?" Ibara continued, her tone still angry, "Is he your little boy-toy, now?"

"Lady, who the hell do you think you are talking to her like that?" Naruto objected loudly, "And just who the hell do you…"

Tsubaki interrupted him by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking to Tsubaki, he saw her shaking her head at him.

"Don't bother," she explained, "it's not worth it."

"And what's that supposed to mean, huh?" Ibara rounded on Tsubaki angrily.

"It means, Ibara…" Tsubaki retorted, "…that just because you're angry, hateful and miserable, it doesn't mean the rest of us have to be! What happened to you happened sixteen years ago; I should know, because it happened to me as well, and it took just as much from me as it did from you. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to settle for the rest of my life being defined by that incident. As cruel as this may sound: Get. Over. It."

Tsubaki began leading Naruto away, leaving a stunned and upset-looking Ibara. She stopped briefly and turned around, addressing her former friend, "And to answer your question, no, he's not my boy-toy. He's the man I'm involved in a loving, healthy adult relationship with! And I'm happy with him! I'm happier with him than I've ever been with anyone else!"

Ibara's eyes widened in shock at that admission. Tsubaki led Naruto away once more, this time not bothering to stop and look back. Had she looked back, she would have seen the single tear that Ibara shed at her words, bringing forth not only old wounds, but also a few new ones upon reflecting on the truth of her former friend's hard words…

* * *

Once they'd gotten to Ichiraku's, they had both all but forgotten their encounter with Ibara. All smiles once they got there, Teuchi greeted them, and then cheered loudly when he saw the indicators that told him what Naruto and Tsubaki's current relationship was. Ayame came around at her father's cheering, and seeing what he saw, she not only cheered for them, but she jumped the counter and tackled the pair of them in a tight hug, congratulating them heartily.

After lunch, Tsubaki and Naruto parted ways, with Tsubaki telling Naruto to pick her up at home at six-thirty. Tsubaki explained to Naruto that she wanted to surprise him tonight, and that she also wanted him to surprise her in some way. With that, she left him to do what he was going to do while she got a few things done herself.

Naruto went home and spent some time depositing his outfits there. Unsealing them from the scroll, he looked over them and decided on a particular ensemble: a pastel-orange shirt, a black tie, a dark brown jacket, tan khaki slacks and black loafers. After situating himself, he left his apartment to go to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. If this was his first date, he was going to do it right, and he was going to do it by jumping in with both feet.

When he arrived there, Ino was there to greet him, "Good afternoon, welcome to the Yaman…" she smiled upon seeing who entered, "Hi, Naruto, how are you?"

"Hi, Ino, I'm good. How about you?" he asked with a smile.

"I'm good, too. Hey listen…" her smile dropped as she began to express condolences, "…we've all heard about what happened to Master Jiraiya. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, Ino," Naruto said with a sad smile, "I know now how you felt when you lost Asuma-sensei…" his face dropped even more as he finished.

"Naruto…you don't blame yourself for that, do you?" Ino asked in concern, her knowledge of the human mind and her ability to read people serving her well.

"At times, I do. I sometimes think that Asuma-sensei died because the people who killed him were after me, but I know that he wouldn't want me to blame myself for it…" his smile returned as he continued, "…but I also know that he was protecting me as a comrade and as a fellow Ninja of the Leaf, and I know that he wouldn't want me blaming myself for it."

Ino walked around to him and hugged him warmly, Naruto returning the sisterly hug she was giving him, "Good; because you're right – he wouldn't want you blaming yourself, and none of us blame you, either. The fault lies with the people who want what's not rightfully theirs. Remember that, okay?"

"You bet, Ino. Thanks," he answered before adding enthusiastically, "But let's talk about what I came here for."

"Got it," Ino smiled at his enthusiasm, "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, if you must know," Naruto leaned in and began to speak conspiratorially, knowing how much Ino loved gossip, "My new girlfriend and I are going on our first real date tonight, and I want to get her some flowers."

"Your **girlfriend**?" asked Ino excitedly, "So you and Tsubaki really are…"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Naruto interrupted, "How did you know it was Tsubaki?"

"Oh, I don't know…" she began with a smirk, "…it could be that I've seen the two of you walking back and forth down the street all morning, smiling like a couple of complete goofs in love and lost in your own little world."

Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess that's a pretty dead giveaway."

Ino laughed with him as she addressed his needs, "Okay, then. We're going to give you a dozen red roses. That'll show her just how much you love her…" she added teasingly, "…though by the way you two were acting with each other earlier, I don't think you need to show her."

Naruto simply smiled and nodded. Ino sped away preparing an immaculate bouquet of roses for Naruto, adding several pink and white ones in with the dozen red that she originally had in mind. Naruto was very impressed with what Ino had produced for him. It further made his afternoon when she gave him a discount – she only charged him for the dozen red, and threw the extra pink and white roses into the bouquet on the house. After paying her and thanking her for her help, Naruto went on his way, heading back home to make final preparations for that night.

* * *

Having spent most of his afternoon making sure he looked the best he could for his new girlfriend, he was satisfied with the end result. The biggest hurdle of it all was using the various gels and products so that he could smooth out his hair and slick it back. Deciding to forgo his usual wild, rugged look for a more sophisticated image tonight, he had spent almost two hours just trying to tame his hair.

Surprisingly, even to himself, he never got frustrated with the process, or with himself or his hair. He believed every painstaking minute to be worth the final outcome so that he could look his very best for the woman he'd fallen head over heels in love with. And now, at six thirty on the dot, Naruto was at Tsubaki's front door, knocking on it to announce his arrival, his bouquet of roses in hand, ready to give to her. The door opened to reveal one of the most breathtaking sights Naruto had ever beheld. Naruto gasped and went wide-eyed at the visage of beauty before him, a flush creeping across his face.

There she was, the woman he loved, completely made over in a way that he had to see to believe! Several locks of her hair were pinned to the side of her head in an effect that made her own hair look like tapered ribbons, while the remaining strands were clipped back across the top of her scalp towards the back. The rest of her hair cascaded down from those bindings in a series of waves and curls, showing off a fresh perm and styling. Her face was made up in very earthy tones. She wore a blush that gave her cheeks a reddish-brown color and blended perfectly into her skin tone. Her lip stick was a semi-gloss that was a darker reddish-brown, with the red showing through a little more, accentuating her closed-mouth smile. Her eye shadow was also a darker brown that faded perfectly into the rest of her complexion and the blush on her cheeks, making the brown in her eyes sparkle and come to life. Her mascara gave her lashes the extra fullness that brought a very sultry, sensual quality to her overall appearance.

This was to say nothing of her apparel for the evening. She was wearing a knit tunic dress of a medium/light brown that was just a few shades lighter than her hair. The dress was too thin to be called a sweater, but had the appearance of one, being knit from what looked like wool and cotton. The dress itself started just off Tsubaki's shoulders, with an oversized fold-over collar, held in place with three buttons over her left breast. The sleeves were long, ending at her wrists, and the garment had been fitted for her silhouette, showing off her very womanly curves and supple bust. The hem of her dress ended at mid thigh in a tapered layer pattern. She was wearing black sheer stockings which flowed down into dark brown/black leather high-heel, high-top boots, giving her a couple of inches height advantage over Naruto.

Tsubaki, upon seeing Naruto's reaction, appearance, and the bouquet in his hands, smiled even wider, a blush crossing her own features as well.

"Hello, my love," Tsubaki greeted him warmly.

"Huh?" Naruto responded dumbly.

Tsubaki raised an intrigued eyebrow and smirked, waving her hand in front of his face, "Naruto? You in there?"

"Err, wha?" Naruto asked, shaking his head before blushing even more deeply, feeling somewhat embarrassed at his loss of attention. He laughed embarrassedly and explained, "Sorry…it's just that you're so beautiful right now, I couldn't believe my eyes."

Tsubaki's smile widened into a grin as her eyes welled up, touched as she was by Naruto's sincerity of her beauty at that moment, "Why…thank you. You look quite dashing, yourself, tonight!"

"Thanks. Err…these are for you," Naruto responded, offering the bouquet to Tsubaki.

Tsubaki took the bouquet with a smile on her face, "Thank you so much. Just give me a second to put these in some water, and then, we'll be off!"

Naruto nodded, waiting while Tsubaki put the bouquet into a base. After a couple of minutes, Tsubaki returned, locking up her apartment and taking Naruto's arm. A few minutes after that found the Leaf's newest couple walking down the street, drawing quite a few stares, and more than one double-take at the very good-looking couple.

"Boss? That you?" a voice very familiar to Naruto was heard asking.

Naruto turned in the direction of the voice, "Hey there, Konohamaru! How are ya? Haven't seen you around in a while."

"I'm good," the young Sarutobi greeted before his tone became more subdued, "Hey, Boss, I'm sorry about Pervy Sage. I know he meant a lot to you."

Naruto nodded and smiled softly, "Thanks, buddy; I appreciate that. Say, how's that new technique I taught you coming along?"

"Well, I'm working to get stage three mastered right now, but I just can't seem to get it," Konohamaru answered in resigned frustration.

"Yeah, that one was tough for me, too. I'll give you a tip – use a shadow clone to gather the chakra at first, and that'll at least allow you to make it battle-ready. You can work on mastering it later."

Konohamaru's face lit up with sudden understanding, "Kami, why didn't I think of that?" He smiled and said, "Thanks, Naruto! Oh, and is this pretty lady your…you know…" he held out his pinky finger, "…girlfriend? Didn't know you were into older women, there, Boss…" he finished teasingly.

Tsubaki laughed warmly at Konohamaru's reference to her, while Naruto grinned proudly, "As a matter of fact, yes she is my girlfriend and I couldn't be happier. Konohamaru Sarutobi, meet Tsubaki Kenpi!"

"It's a pleasure, ma'am…" Konohamaru bowed politely before the woman on Naruto's arm, "…and I must say that Naruto has very good taste."

"Well, thank you, Konohamaru," Tsubaki bowed back with a smile, "and it's always nice to receive genuine compliments from such a handsome young man as yourself."

Konohamaru just laughed embarrassedly while scratching the back of his head in a very Naruto-like gesture.

Naruto interjected, "Well, see you around, Konohamaru! We've got a reservation to keep!"

"See you later, Boss! Have a good night, you two!" he exclaimed, waving at the pair.

The both waved back and continued on their way. As they were walking along, Tsubaki remembered something.

"So what's that new technique you taught him?"

Naruto leaned in closer, answering quietly, "The rasengan."

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah…" Naruto responded before chuckling, "…it's funny. When I was explaining it to him, he thought I was showing him a pervy ninjutsu."

Tsubaki laughed heartily at that, finding such a situation to be quite amusing. She could picture Kanohamaru's letdown when he found out that Naruto wasn't teaching him a pervy ninjutsu, only to perk up when he saw what a technique such as the rasengan was capable of.

They continued walking along towards Phoenix Hall, continuing to draw gaping stares the whole way. Once they had arrived, they stopped and took in the four-storey building that housed the restaurant that was so popular with the clans and with visiting foreign dignitaries. The architecture was of a classic pagoda style, the façade painted in red, black and gold. Each ascending level of the structure got smaller, the smallest being at the very top. As soon as the staff caught sight of them, they were immediately shown in and brought before none other than Chouza Akimichi.

"Ah, good evening, Naruto, Tsubaki," he greeted them both with a hearty smile.

"Hi, Mr. Chouza," Naruto greeted back with a friendly grin of his own.

Chouza nodded and continued, "Welcome to our fine establishment. Lady Tsunade has already made all of the arrangements this evening, so if you would, please follow me to your private dining room."

Naruto and Tsubaki raised their eyebrows and smiled in pleasant surprise. They followed Chouza up three flights of stairs, ascending to the top floor. As they walked down the crimson-paneled, lowly-lit hallway, they could smell a kitchen to their right, the heavenly scents of delectable delicacies wafting out and inflaming their appetites. The hallway ended at a large set of double doors. Chouza opened one of the doors and escorted the two of them into the room beyond.

The room itself was lit entirely by candlelight. The walls themselves were crimson-paneled just like the hallway outside, bouquets and collections of flowers were scattered along the walls and in the corners of the room, and the table was set for two, with a single lit candle in the center. Soft music could be heard through the loudspeakers inside the walls and ceiling. Both of them grinned widely at what lay before them – this room was set up for the two of them alone!

"Welcome to what we like to call the 'Romantic Getaway Room'," Chouza explained, "Tonight's selection will be served in several rounds: appetizers, salad, entrees and sides, and dessert. The appetizers we've prepared for the two of you are stuffed peppers, dango, and edamame. The salad will be a mixed greens variety. The entrée courses will consist of herb-roasted pheasant, seasonal grilled vegetables, Akimichi-style barbecued pork, chicken fried and peppered rice, and of course for Naruto, miso ramen courtesy of Teuchi Ichiraku. Dessert will consist of several fruit pies."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Naruto, while Tsubaki giggled at his enthusiasm.

"For beverages, we'll be providing you with a bottle of the Land of Honey's finest honey and plum sake, three pitchers of hot green tea, and several different fruit juice blends."

"That sounds wonderful, Chouza. Thank you," Tsubaki responded while Naruto nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"One last thing," Chouza added, as he made the Ram hand seal. A second later, the walls faded away, leaving the room exposed to the outside as Chouza began to explain, "The walls have several seals in them that allow them to become transparent on the inside. This way, you can dine in complete privacy while having a panoramic view of the village from the outside. You'll appreciate it a lot more once the sun finishes setting, believe me."

Tsubaki and Naruto smiled wondrously at the degree of service they were being given. Chouza bowed and informed them that they would be bringing in each course of the meal shortly. Chouza then left to bring in their drinks.

Conversation between the two of them centered around the two of them getting to know things about each other. Both had agreed that while they knew each other, they didn't know a lot of things about each other, so they decided to spend their time filling in the gaps and details that gave who they were as individuals their context. Naruto spent some time telling her about his childhood, and also about some of the missions he undertook before he'd left with Jiraiya to train.

Tsubaki was surprised to learn that his legendary Nindo of never going back on his word, and doing whatever it takes to protect his precious people, was influenced in large part by none other than Zabuza Momochi and his associate, Haku. She was even further surprised when he told her about he had beaten Kiba in the Chunin Exam final round preliminaries with a severe handicap that he didn't even realize he'd had at the time. There were several other amusing stories he'd told her as well, such at the time where he and his squad tried to get a peek at Kakashi's face beneath the mask, or the time where he had to stay on top of Gamabunta's head for a whole day in order for him to agree to let him use his contract.

There were some more serious stories as well, such as when he and Jiraiya had found Tsunade and fought off Orochimaru, and the Sasuke Retrieval mission, where all of his comrades walked away with injuries. Tsubaki couldn't help but remember back to when she'd seen him in the ICU after that incident, bloodied and banged up. She'd almost shed a tear as that memory resurfaced, but managed to keep it down, doing all she could to make sure that tonight was as happy and joyful for Naruto as possible.

She'd also shared several stories of her own life: how she'd graduated from the Academy during war time under the Fourth Hokage's watch, how she'd been forced to leave Shinobi duty once she'd gotten pregnant with Kasumi, her life leading up to Kasumi's graduation from the Academy, and the challenges that came with raising a child alone. Naruto hadn't realized just how challenging Tsubaki's life had been – it was different from his own, but the demands placed upon her as a widow and a single parent were overwhelming without someone to help her share the responsibilities. Her friendship with Ibara had solidified and deepened during that time, as they both would help each other out with their daughters when one or the other of them needed a break.

Naruto couldn't help but think that it was truly tragic how angry and bitter Ibara had ended up, but Tsubaki had also told him that Ibara, in a sense, had put herself into the situation she was in. The fact of the matter was that Ibara was always a spiteful person by nature – someone who needed something to be angry at, lest she turn that anger on herself. Naruto only hoped that Ibara could one day let her anger go and find something, or someone, worth living for.

They learned about each other's hobbies; Naruto had expanded his hobbies beyond tasting and comparing ramen in the last several years to include gardening, taijutsu training with Rock Lee, and various other physical activities. Tsubaki's hobbies were more mental than Naruto's were, such as solving puzzles and playing mind-teasers. With the exception of Lee's extreme training, the two of them resolved to engage in some of their hobbies together, as well as finding new mutual hobbies that they could enjoy.

Each course of the dinner seemed to taste better than the previous one. The sake and tea also complimented the meal quite nicely. Chouza had actually taken it upon himself to serve them the meal, and had otherwise made himself as scarce as possible, giving the couple the greatest degree of privacy while ensuring that their every need was met. As the meal went on, the two noticed that the sun had set, and the view from the high room was indeed spectacular, enhancing the already romantic atmosphere by allowing them to eat under the stars. The way that they were looking at each other was not lost on their host.

"If you like," Chouza offered, making his presence known, "This door does lock from the inside."

"Why?" Tsubaki asked warily, though she raised a bemused eyebrow.

"Well," Chouza chuckled before finishing, "Let's just say that some have been known to use this room for…other things besides eating."

"Oh…" Tsubaki responded with a blush, "I, err…I see."

Naruto responded with his usual sheepish laugh while scratching the back of his head, sporting a blush of his own.

"Well…I'll leave you two with the option," and with that, Chouza left the room, leaving the two of them to their own devices.

Deciding that such activities (at least for now) were best kept within the privacy of one of their homes…and the comfort of a bed…the two prepared to exit the restaurant, only to be stopped by Chouza, who had a very nice camera around his neck.

"A moment, you two," he began, "Lady Tsunade asked me to take a picture of you two, here. She wanted one, and she'll also pay to have duplicates made for each of you."

The two of them smiled and nodded, allowing Chouza to situate them into a "loving couple" position. Naruto was standing proud and tall, while Tsubaki was leaning against Naruto from the left-hand side. Naruto's left arm was around her waist, while Tsubaki's right arm was around her shoulders, and her left arm was around his front, resting against his chest. Her head was turned to face the camera, and both of them sported happy smiles. Once Chouza had taken the picture, he told them that they would be ready by tomorrow morning and delivered to Tsunade's office.

After this, they took their leave, thanking Chouza for the wonderful meal on the way out, and walking through the streets, making their way to one of the village's public parks. As they entered the park, Tsubaki gave a surprised squeak, immediately followed by an excited laugh as Naruto had picked her up without warning, scooping her into a bridal carry. Naruto proceeded to carry her through the park, showing off his lady to any and all present with a mile-wide grin on his face.

As they continued through the park, Naruto asked, "So, how am I doing as a boyfriend, right now?"

"Well, let's see," Tsubaki began, assuming a mock-thoughtful expressin bringing her finger to her lips, "You dressed in a very sharp outfit for me, you brought me a beautiful bouquet of roses, you've taken me to a five-star restaurant and fed me a spectacular meal, you're showing the world at large that you're proud to be with me, I'd say…you're doing wonderful, Naruto," Tsubaki answered, kissing him on the cheek with a smile, "In fact, I'd say you're doing perfectly!"

"That's good to know," Naruto replied with a grin.

"And how am I doing as a girlfriend, by your estimation?"

"Best I could ever ask for!" Naruto exclaimed in his simple and direct manner, bringing forth a warm giggle from Tsubaki.

"Naruto?" another voice familiar to Naruto asked, bringing them out of their world and back into their surroundings.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted his big brother figure.

"Hey, how are you? I've been looking everywhere for you since last night!"

"Sorry about that, Iruka," Tsubaki responded, "He's been with me the whole time."

"Okay; actually, about that…what's the, err…deal with you two, here?"

"I'm his girlfriend, now!"

Iruka, dumbfounded, looked from Tsubaki to Naruto, who nodded, confirming her declaration. Iruka shook his head, as though trying to shake something off, before smiling, "Well, congratulations to the two of you, then. Though I have to confess to being a bit surprised, Naruto; I would have thought you'd be pursuing Sakura, still."

Naruto simply grinned as he asked, "Sakura who?"

Iruka laughed at that, "Well, it's good to see that you're with someone who seems to care for you a great deal."

There was a pause, before Iruka spoke up, "Hey Tsubaki, do you mind if I steal him away for a couple of minutes. It'll be quick…"

"Sure," Tsubaki answered, having a pretty good guess as to what he wanted to talk to Naruto about, "Naruto, can you…" a sappy, sweet pout crossed her features, "…carry me over to that bench over there?"

"Anything for you, my princess," Naruto answered just as sweetly, causing Iruka to roll his eyes and smirk, as well. Naruto carried Tsubaki over to the bench that she indicated and gently and carefully sat her comfortably on it before walking back over to Iruka.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, I heard about what happened to Master Jiraiya after you turned me down for ramen, yesterday," Iruka began in a subdued tone, "I wanted to see how you were doing, but…" his tone perked up a bit, "…well, for the most part, you seem to be doing okay, right now."

"Yeah, I am," Naruto responded, "Tsubaki's been amazing. I'm glad she found me last night."

"About Tsubaki, Naruto…" Naruto frowned at Iruka's slightly wary tone, "…are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Well, I don't want to come off as though I don't approve, or that I don't support you or anything, but…isn't she a little old for you?"

Naruto adopted a thoughtful frown before nodding once, understanding Iruka's concern before beginning to diffuse it, "She asked me the same thing earlier this morning," Iruka's eyebrows raised in surprise at this, "She was actually concerned that she might hold me back in some way. Honestly, Iruka-sensei…she knows me; I know her – I can't really explain it, but I look into her eyes, and I know exactly what's going on in her head and in her heart. It's so strange because she does exactly the same thing with me."

Iruka hummed in surprise before continuing, "Well, as long as you're okay, that's my main concern. And I'm glad you're happy. I don't think Master Jiraiya would want to see you down. He spoke of you so fondly; in fact, he once told me that he thought of you as his grandson."

"Hmm," Naruto responded, "You know it's funny, I thought of him more like a father than a grandfather…but yeah, I know he wouldn't want me to be down. Thanks for checking on me, Iruka-sensei."

"Sure thing, Naruto," Iruka responded warmly, "Now…why don't you get back to your lady friend, over there?"

"You bet. Good night."

"Good night."

Both of them went their separate ways, Naruto to retrieve Tsubaki and continue on his way, Iruka on his way back home in the opposite direction. Naruto gently scooped Tsubaki back up and proceeded to take her home.

"So, what did he want?"

"Oh, he just wanted to see how I was doing with things…" Naruto began, "…and he also wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing with…well, us."

"Oh…" Tsubaki responded, not at all surprised, "…so, what were his concerns?"

"Same as yours, actually," Naruto answered directly, "That in itself seemed to calm his nerves a bit, and he's glad that I'm in good spirits with you."

Tsubaki smiled, "That's good. I'm glad to hear that."

As soon as they left the park, Naruto lowered Tsubaki to her feet at her behest. She took his arm in both of hers, once more hugging it to herself, as they went on their way back towards her home. She looked on curiously as Naruto suddenly stopped. Following his gaze, she saw a large stuffed frog in a shop window.

Naruto unconsciously walked over to the window and put his hand on it. Tsubaki walked up beside him a few moments later, put her arm around his shoulders and asked concernedly, "Are you okay?"

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, before nodding slowly, remaining quiet.

Tsubaki brought her other hand up to his face and guided his gaze to hers.

"Naruto, talk to me about it," she implored softly.

Naruto began, "The first time Pervy Sage had ramen with me…" he chuckled as he looked back at the stuffed frog and continued, "…he stuck me with the bill…by substituting himself with a big stuffed frog just like this one."

"Did he really?" Tsubaki asked with a laugh, "The Prank Master from Hell got pranked?"

"Wow, I haven't been called that in a while, but yeah," Naruto laughed as well, smiling fondly at the memory. His smile faded as Tsubaki saw fresh hurt in his eyes, "I wanted him to keep watching over me. I wanted him to see me become the Hokage…but I only ended up showing him the worst, most un-cool side of me."

Sensing that he wasn't done, Tsubaki remained quiet and attentive. Naruto closed his eyes as a few tears made their way out of his ducts.

He sighed and continued, "I have so many regrets, Tsubaki. I…I wish I'd listened to him, more. I wish I hadn't blown my top at some of the training he gave me. I…" his voice broke as he finished, "…I wish I'd been a better student to him…"

Tsubaki immediately wrapped him into a comforting hug and kissed his cheek, effectively interrupting his lament. Naruto wrapped his arms around her in response, weeping silently as she rubbed his back and the back of his head comfortingly. After a few moments, Tsubaki pulled back, cupping one side of his face with her hand, stray tears of her own flowing down her cheeks.

"Honey, listen to me…" Tsubaki began, "…after I was made Tsunade's apprentice, I was in Tsunade's office when Master Jiraiya gave most of his reports to her about you, and he only had good things to say."

An involuntary sob and hiccup came from Naruto's throat as he smiled at her words, touched by them.

She continued, "He had so much faith in you, and he considered you his greatest success. It wasn't the Fourth Hokage who was his favorite student – it was you, because you're so much like him…in the areas that matter. You have his soul, you have his courage, and you've inherited his will. He truly believed that you would one day be a great Hokage…and I believe that, too."

Naruto gasped as his eyes went wide. Tsubaki smiled and pressed on, "Master Jiraiya will always be watching over you. Even now, he's watching from somewhere…" her tone became a little lighter as she finished, "…I'll bet he's even doing research right now, and you and I are the current subjects of his research."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh heartily at that, "Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised."

Tsubaki laughed with him for a few moments before the laughter died down. Naruto, in good spirits once more, smiled serenely and softly responded, "Thank you, Princess. I needed that."

She smiled and kissed him once more, this time on the lips. Pulling away with a smirk, she offered in a sultry tone, "So, what do you say we go back to my place and…honor his memory by giving him some research material, hmm?"

Naruto smirked back and responded by kissing her once more as Tsubaki teleported them both in a swirl of leaves back to her home, in eager anticipation of the night's impending delights, unaware of the two who had been observing them from the shadows…

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga didn't know what to think or do. She had seen Naruto sitting on that bench last night crying silently to himself. She was distraught – the source of her strength was faltering, and without it, she didn't know what to do. So she had done what she'd always done – silently encourage him in her thoughts.

'_Naruto, you can pull through this; you can. You need to…I need you to…'_

She had been more than shocked when Lady Tsunade's newest apprentice came to him and offered him all the comfort she could. And her heart broke when she saw Tsubaki kiss Naruto with such passionate force. To her surprise, she saw Naruto completely break down and allow himself to fall into that woman's embrace. She left after she saw that, unable to take any more. She couldn't take seeing her strength in such a frail, weak state, nor could she stomach the idea of him in another woman's arms. He was supposed to have an indomitable spirit! How could his strength fail him like that? Didn't he realize that she needed him?

Seeing him again tonight brought some relief to her, though her distress was now replaced with some jealousy. She was glad to see him in better spirits, but why wasn't it her that was on his arm instead of that…woman? She was so much older than he was, so what was she after in pursuing a man so much younger? Why did that woman want the man she loved – her strength?

After they had vanished from the storefront where the stuffed frog was, Hinata began to make her way, intent on confronting the woman about her relationship with her hero at the soonest possible opportunity. She knew that she would likely be at Tsunade's office at some point, and she had some business with the Hokage anyway. There was a good chance that they'd bump into each other there sometime tomorrow.

* * *

Sakura Haruno walked back to her home as well, having observed Naruto and Tsubaki from a different vantage point than Hinata. She found herself feeling quite angry at what she'd seen. Who did Naruto think he was, letting Tsubaki Kenpi of all people hang all over him like that? Who did Tsubaki think she was, thinking she had the right to hang all over him?

Tsubaki – the woman who had cost Sakura her apprenticeship with the Hokage. Tsubaki – the woman who had estranged her from her teammate. Tsubaki – the woman who had taken both her teammate and her apprenticeship from her! Who did she think she was?

Sakura had found herself growing more and more frustrated and angrier at the world now that her vent had been taken from her. She couldn't hit anyone else – nobody would have taken it the way Naruto did, and from what she'd learned about the injuries she inflicted on him, nobody else **could** take it, either. This caused her anger and jealousy to be tinged with regret as well.

'_What am I thinking? I don't have the right to inflict those kinds of injuries on anybody…'_

'…_**But I'm still majorly pissed off at the two of them for everything that's happened to me, CHA!'**_

Her feelings conflicting with what she knew to be right in her head, she realized that she would need someone to talk to about this. Ino? No, Ino wouldn't understand. Kakashi-sensei? No, he simply wouldn't care.

'_Would Lady Tsunade take the time to listen to me? I'll stop by her office tomorrow. Besides, if Tsubaki had ulterior motives about getting me removed from Naruto's room, and for having my apprenticeship terminated, she needs to know about it.'_

She continued on her way home, resolving to stop by the Hokage's office tomorrow to talk about her feelings and express her concerns to Lady Tsunade, and hopefully be able to confront Tsubaki about this as well.

* * *

**And that's another chapter in the Amazing Saga of Star-Crossed Lovers Naruto and Tsubaki (better known to all of you as "The Gateway to the Soul"). I do not own "Lovesicle". Oh, wait a minute, YES I DO! That's right! The idea was entirely mine! It's MINE, YOU UNDERSTAND? ALL MINE! DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, GO, GO, GO, MINE, MINE, MINE, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But in all seriousness, it is mine – I thought that it was a rather creative idea, myself. If someone else did it before me, I know not of it, so I'm claiming ownership, as I came up with it without any points of reference (well, except for Lady and the Tramp when they both ate that spaghetti strand together).**

**As always, my friends, Pleas****e review!**


	7. Some Can See, Some Can't

**And here's the next chapter! Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since you've seen an update from me – sorry about that. Combination of writers' block and overload (still battling with both, but I've been able to trudge through. It's been slow going, but progress is being made.**

**I do want to address a few things that were left in some reviews. One – this story is not abandoned, and unless I specifically say otherwise, it isn't going to be. So, please rest assured that even if it takes a while, updates will come. Red, a suggestion for you – set up an account so that you can alert this story, and PM me if concerns arise. That way I can respond to them…;-)**

**Also, folks, please bear in mind that I'm telling the story that ****I want to tell****. Some people have asked me why I didn't focus more on Tsubaki's grieving and do something like make her descend into alcoholism so that Naruto could rescue her or something like that. Tsubaki does have a coping mechanism – she's essentially thrown herself into her training and her work, finishing several years' worth of training in several months. Tsunade ****was**** surprised when she requested some personal leave, after all. As far as why I didn't have her sinking into alcoholism, I have written her to be a woman of greater strength of character than that. And I didn't want Naruto to rescue her emotionally; I wanted HER to rescue HIM emotionally. I know the story I want to tell, and I am not going to deviate from my plot in any way, shape or form.**

**Now, if you have any ideas that might ADD to the plot I've already established, then please, be my guest and share them with me. If I like them, or if they fit what I want to do, I'll use them and give you dure credit for the idea!**

**That said, let's get into…**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Some Can See, Some Can't**

* * *

Tsubaki's eyes slowly opened as she awoke from her slumber. Naruto's peaceful, content, sleeping face was the first thing that came into her vision. A smile filled with all the love in the world involuntarily crossed her lips. Her eyes became misty as she stared at him through half-lidded eyes, as though he was the only thing that existed to her at that moment.

'_Do you have any idea at all how much I love you?_' she asked in her thoughts as she watched him sleep, _'Do you know what it is that you do to me? Do you know how overwhelmed I am with love and joy whenever I'm around you? It hasn't even been two days, and already I can't imagine life without you. Even now, I'm just so happy wat__ching you sleep peacefully._'

She brought a gentle hand up to his face, brushing aside a few stray locks of hair and gently caressing his cheek with her fingertips, just lightly enough so as to not disturb his sleep, '_You're the most precious and wonderful __soul I've ever encountered. You have such a bright and amazing future…and you don't even realize the full extent of it. But I can see it. I can see that you…Naruto Uzumaki…you'll change the entire world in ways we can't even fathom. Your legend will go__ so far beyond the title of Hokage. You'll accomplish so many great things, and you'll also bear such agonizing trials and struggles…and I'll be __right __there at your side with you through all of them. I'll celebrate every achievement with you, and I'll struggle__ through every trial right beside you, giving you what strength and support I can every step of the way. I'm so honored and humbled that you'd want me as your partner through life.'_

Tsubaki continued tracing her fingertips across his face and through his hair, '_Naruto, you're perfect in every way to me. That wonderful, handsome face, those exquisite whisker marks, the magnificent blue of your eyes, those golden locks of hair. Even your flaws are perfect – the way you stubbornly stand your ground, even wh__en you probably shouldn't, your overflowing passion and intensity, that even sometimes robs you of good common sense, the fact that you're honest to a fault. But it's those __very flaws in conjunction with your strengths that enable you to give so many peop__le so much hope. So many things about you remind me of…the Fourth Hokage. You have his courage, you have his magnificent ability to inspire everyone around you just by being there…you even look quite a bit like him…_'

She narrowed her eyes as she pondered that thought, _'I wonder? Could it be?'_

She found herself studying his features for a brief moment, comparing them to her own mental image of Minato Namikaze. The resemblance was startling, to say the least. Could Naruto and the Fourth…be related somehow?

'_Anyway, it doesn't matter to me,_' she thought contently as her smile returned, putting the matter aside for the moment, _'You're amazing just the way you are. I wonder what time it is, anyway…_'

As she looked around, she saw the light of the waning moon, telling her that dawn was about to approach. After half an hour of just caressing his face and hair with her fingertips as he slept, she decided to get up and get her day started. As she got out of bed, she was reminded of last night's intimacy by the fact that she was wearing nothing but her garter belt and black silk stockings. She smiled with a blush at the memory before heading to her bathroom and freshening herself up to start her day.

After she was done freshening up and applying light make-up, she dressed herself in a cream-colored V-neck blouse and crimson knee-length skirt, not unlike what she would normally wear when on duty at the hospital. The main differences were that her blouse had no buttons, and her skirt didn't cling to her hips and legs, but flowed freely instead.

She noticed that the dawn's light was beginning to peek in through the window. Looking over at Naruto, she decided to let him sleep for now. She quietly left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar, and went into the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast. After preparing the same meal she'd made for herself and Naruto yesterday, she ate her share and placed the rest in her oven on a warm setting. Knowing that Tsunade would want to get an early start on her day, especially with the pictures that Chouza said would be delivered that morning, she thought to go ahead and get hers and Naruto's copies as soon as possible.

She quickly wrote a note for Naruto, letting him know where she was and what she was doing. Once she was finished, she folded the note, wrote his name on it, and quietly went back into the bedroom. Leaving the note on her pillow so that he would see it once he woke up, she looked at his sleeping face once more and smiled lovingly again. She leaned across the bed and gently kissed his cheek before leaning up to his ear and whispering, "I love you."

Naruto's face adopted a ghost of a smile as he continued to sleep peacefully. Tsubaki pulled away from the bed and left the room, this time closing the door behind her. Upon leaving her room, she put her white lace-up sandals on and left her home, heading in the direction of the Hokage Tower. As she walked along, she couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. Not seeing anyone, she kept an eye peeled, listening for any sounds her potential tail might make to reveal her presence. Just outside Hokage Tower, the person tailing her made their presence known.

"Miss Tsubaki?" she heard a young female voice call out with cold anger from her left. She turned to see none other than Hinata Hyuuga, glaring at her coldly.

"Lady Hinata," Tsubaki greeted cordially yet warily, "Good morning, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Why?" the young Hyuuga asked in response, her anger still cold but more noticeable.

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes at the girl, able to guess what Hinata was asking. Not letting her off the hook, she asked, "Why what, exactly?"

"Why are you with Naruto?" Hinata spat out, this time through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me?" Tsubaki asked warningly, sending an indignant glare of her own in Hinata's direction.

Hinata dropped all pretense of calm control and began to raise her voice, "What's your game? What do you want from him? Why were you with him last night and the night before?"

"I don't believe that's any of your business, young lady," Tsubaki answered firmly before proceeding on her way. Hinata's voice stopped her once more.

"I won't just give him up to you, and I'll fight you for him if I must…" she began to cry out.

Tsubaki immediately cut her off, her own voice rising in volume, "Now you listen here, and you listen good! Naruto is not your possession, nor is he a trophy to be fought over! He is a man who is free to choose who he wants to be with, and I will not engage in stupid, petty, childish games like this with you, or anyone else!"

"I love him!" Hinata exclaimed furiously, "I've loved him far longer than you ever have! And I love him more than you ever will!"

"Do you really?" Tsubaki asked in a challenging tone, "Then tell me this: where were you when he needed someone to care for him and comfort him? If you know I was with him two nights ago, you must have seen us."

"I…" Hinata began to shrink in on herself, "…I was…watching from the shadows…" she straightened up and said with a little more steel, "…I was silently encouraging him to remain strong!"

"And just what good did your so-called 'silent encouragement' do for him? What, did you think he'd somehow…be able to sense your 'encouragement' by detecting your chakra or something? You have the nerve to ask me why I **was** with him? Then you answer me, Hinata Hyuuga – right now: **why weren't** **you**?"

"I…" Hinata began to break down, "…I…I couldn't…"

"You couldn't what, Hinata?" Tsubaki asked, lowering the volume of her inquiry to a calm, but straightforward tone, "You couldn't reach out to him? You couldn't simply let him know that you cared? How long were you there for, watching him before I arrived?"

Hinata's eyes gazed downward, unable to look Tsubaki in the eye any longer. She answered meekly, "About half an hour."

"Half an hour?!" Tsubaki asked incredulously, "And in all that time, you couldn't offer him a word of comfort? You couldn't give him a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to talk to? How could you claim to love him if you would just stand there and watch him suffer?"

"I wouldn't have known what to do!" Hinata yelled out, her voice breaking as she broke out into tears of anguish and frustration, "Naruto is my strength! He's the reason I can push forward despite everything! His strength was failing him! I didn't know what to do!" she trailed off, her cries turning into sobs. Tsubaki simply stood there, feeling pity for the poor girl before her.

"Hinata," she called softly in an attempt to get the weeping girl's attention, "Hinata, look at me."

Hinata continued to weep at her own powerlessness, unresponsive to Tsubaki's call. Tsubaki, however, would not allow the girl to leave her presence without facing this issue.

"Hinata Hyuuga, you look at me!" Tsubaki ordered sternly, invoking the stern mother she'd had to be at times with Kasumi when she was still alive. At such a tone, Hinata opened her eyes, brought her gaze upwards and gave Tsubaki her undivided attention.

Seeing that she had it, Tsubaki began, "You need to walk away from this having learned something, young lady. Love is not selfish, and you have in essence been using Naruto for your own selfish ends. Using him as your strength is not only unfair to him, but cruel as well…" Hinata gasped at Tsubaki's words. Tsubaki continued, "…When you love someone, you don't think of what they can do for you – you think of what you can do for them. Naruto has just lost one of the most important and influential men in his life. Jiraiya was like a father to him, and the fact that he's an orphan makes that loss infinitely more devastating and painful to him! And you could only think of your need – for him to be strong? What about Naruto's needs? The simple fact of the matter is that Naruto doesn't need to be encouraged, or remain strong; he needs to grieve! He needs people around him who will comfort him – even more so now, considering that he probably won't have much time to grieve over this, what with everything going on!"

Hinata sniffled, absorbing the hard truth behind Tsubaki's words. Tsubaki pressed on, "Hinata, if you loved Naruto, you would have somehow known what to say or do when you saw him two nights ago. Even if you didn't, that wouldn't have mattered – you would have approached him and said or done…something, anything! If you truly loved him, the only thing that would have mattered to you was the fact that Naruto was in need! I can see that you admire him greatly, and I can see that you…in a sense…worship him. But that's not love. Love isn't about you – it's about the object of your love. Hinata, that's something you have to grasp if you want to have any chance of finding love, whether with Naruto or with anyone else. I hope you take this to heart; I really do."

Tsubaki proceeded once more to make her way inside Hokage Tower, but she was stopped one last time by a sad, yet determined Hinata's voice once again.

"Do **you** love him?" Hinata asked, the need to know quite clear.

Tsubaki turned to her and answered unashamedly and with deep conviction, "Yes I do, Hinata. I love Naruto Uzumaki with all that I am, and I'd shout it out without shame or hesitation to the entire village from the top of Hokage Mountain."

Hinata seemed to ponder her answer. In her heart, she knew that she could never give such a strong and bold answer to that question. Looking at the woman she had just confronted, she replied, "Please forgive me. I won't give you any more trouble over this issue. I wish you and Naruto…all the happiness the world can give you."

Tsubaki smiled at the girl in response, "Thank you, Hinata. I hope that you're able to find the same kind of love that Naruto and I have come to share, as well."

Hinata nodded with a sad smile of her own and went on her way. Tsubaki proceeded once more into Hokage Tower, this time making it to Tsunade's office without further incident.

* * *

Tsunade couldn't help the satisfied smirk that accompanied her joyful smile as she listened to Tsubaki's account of her date with Naruto last night. The moment she saw Tsubaki walk into her office with an ecstatic smile on her face, she began to grill the younger woman, wanting to know every single little detail of the date. Tsubaki did not disappoint, though she gave just enough subtle information about their activities after they'd returned to her home to make the busty Hokage blush, while not actually revealing anything. Tsunade felt let down at being "teased" in such a way, though she was very happy for Naruto and Tsubaki.

As expected, the pictures taken by Chouza had arrived in the middle of their conversation. The package consisted of three glossy eleven by fourteen prints: one for Tsunade, one each for Naruto and Tsubaki, all of them already framed. Tsunade let Tsubaki have the negatives. Tsubaki was quite happy with the way they turned out. Tsunade, not having seen them, gasped with wide eyes at the picture. Naruto and Tsubaki looked like a magnificent couple, and even the picture told her that the two were very much in love. She noted that this was the first photograph of Naruto that she'd seen where he looked directly at the camera with his eyes open…and he looked genuinely happy!

When eight o'clock rolled around, Shikamaru Nara and Sakura Haruno entered her office with some standard reports. Both of them chanced upon the pictures that Tsunade and Tsubaki were fawning over. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and gave a knowing smirk, nodding at Tsubaki, who smiled in response to him. Sakura, however, had already felt angry upon seeing Tsubaki in Tsunade's office, and the picture seemed to make her even angrier.

Both Tsubaki and Tsunade noticed this. Tsunade decided to deal with the issue right then and there, asking pointedly, "Sakura, is there a problem?"

Sakura turned to regard the Hokage, "Yes, Milady. Based on Tsubaki Kenpi's current relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, I have reason to believe that her motives for reporting my actions to you were less than professional or objective, and I'm asking for an inquiry into her actions that led up to me being dismissed as your apprentice."

Tsubaki allowed her head to fall into her hand and shook her head, sighing exasperatedly.

"Not another one," she groaned in a deadpan.

Tsunade regarded Tsubaki curiously, "Another one?"

Tsubaki turned her gaze to the blonde, "This is the third time, by the third person, in less than twenty-four hours, who has objected in some form or fashion to my current relationship with Naruto."

Tsunade grimaced in a mixture of sympathy and annoyance before turning to Sakura.

"Sakura Haruno…" she began firmly, "…explain, please…and it had better be good."

"Yes, milady. Given the timing of what happened when you terminated my apprenticeship, and of Tsubaki Kenpi suddenly occupying my apprenticeship **and** getting involved with Naruto, I find it very difficult to believe that this is mere coincidence. It's my belief that Tsubaki wanted me out of the way so that she could occupy my position, and worm her way into my teammate's life," she stated with conviction.

Tsunade didn't look impressed as she responded, "Is that it? Do you have any evidence to back such charges? Do you have anything beyond mere speculation on which to base such claims?"

"Well…no, milady, but…" Sakura began, stumbling over the answer before being interrupted by Tsunade in a tone denoting cold anger.

"Then what made you come to such a stupid and preposterous conclusion? Tsubaki didn't ask me to make her my apprentice, Sakura. I offered her the job of my own volition after I ended my apprenticeship with you. Your apprenticeship was terminated not because she wanted to move in on what you believed to be yours, but because you were guilty of gross medical malpractice! Do you even know how your name came up in the matter? I'll tell you – Tsubaki performed a full diagnostic scan on Naruto's body, **per standard**** procedure**. When she performed her scan, she found swelling and bruising in Naruto's brain!"

Shikamaru's eyes went wide as he heard this. He turned to gape at Sakura while Tsunade continued to lay into the girl, "She scanned further for pathogens and was able to rule out meningitis and encephalitis, and then asked Naruto how he hurt his head, and if he was in any pain. Naruto himself said that the pain started here in my office, when you were driving your fist into his skull because he objected to going to the hospital to get his arm looked at after he first used the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. He said that what he felt was normal after being hit by you!"

Sakura's expression became more fearful and remorseful as Tsunade recounted the entire event. Tsunade continued, "Tsubaki asked him who created his chart, and he said that he believed you did. And that was true, was it not?"

Sakura nodded as a stray tear began to roll down her face.

"Well, then…" Tsunade pressed on, "…after he told her that, Tsubaki asked if any other staff at the hospital had attended to you, to which he answered, 'No'. Because of the unrecorded injuries, and because of the frequency with which Naruto admitted having suffered the symptoms he had, she then made the request to keep you out of Naruto's room until she could get to the bottom of what had happened. That's when she came to me and asked me to verify her findings, because she honestly had a hard time believing what her diagnosis told her. We came to Naruto's room, found you there, and…well, you know the rest!"

Sakura's fear and remorse turned into anger. Tsunade had noticed that she was becoming angrier and angrier lately, with greater frequency, and it seemed to take all of her self-control to keep from snapping and losing herself to rage. Deciding it was time to deal with Sakura before an incident occurred, Tsunade stood up and looked Sakura dead in the eyes.

"Sakura, what's really the issue here?" she asked firmly, "Ever since you were told to never strike Naruto again, you've been getting angrier and angrier. I want to know why!"

"Why?" Sakura repeated Tsunade's question to her in a cold low tone, "I'll tell you why. Naruto was the one constant I could count on in my life, and now he's been taken from me. I could beat on Naruto, and it would actually help me to feel better and calm down. I could depend on Naruto's promise to bring Sasuke back to the village – back to me. Now, my anger just builds and builds, and because I can't go anywhere near him outside of missions, I don't know what to do with any of it!"

Sakura started shedding tears of anger as she yelled the last question, "Tell me! What am I supposed to do with my anger and frustration now that I have nowhere to vent it, and nobody to vent it on?"

"You grow the hell up, and let your anger go!" came the voice of Shikamaru, firmly and much more loudly than expected, "Who the hell do you think you are, huh? What gives you the right to use Naruto as your frustration vent and gopher? You want Uchiha back? Go out there and get him yourself! You had the nerve to make that ridiculous 'once-in-a-lifetime request' to him all those years ago, when you've never **once** done anything for him! Just how selfish and overly self-important can you be? Is your anger even justified? What are you angry about, and why? If you're going to get angry at someone, get angry at yourself! You have only yourself to blame for where you are! It was your fault that you lost your apprenticeship from what I've heard here, and it's also your fault that Naruto wisely moved on from you. Maybe you'd be the one in Tsubaki's place if you'd treated him better! Did you ever stop to think about that?"

Sakura breathed heavily, taking a few breaths before answering, again in a low tone, "I think about that all the time, every single day…and that's exactly why I'm so angry. I'll also admit to being jealous, as well. Tsubaki Kenpi has my apprenticeship, and she has the love of the man who once loved me…"

This time it was Tsubaki who interrupted, "Sakura, I'm going to tell you the exact same thing I told Hinata Hyuuga earlier this morning: I will not engage or take part in these stupid, petty, childish games that you kids seem to love playing these days! As far as my reporting you goes, I reported the information I had gleaned from Naruto's chart, and that I received from Naruto himself, because of evidence that a medical professional - **not you personally, but a medical professional** – violated established medical ethics, broke the law, and endangered a patient's life and health by doing so. And on top of that, once Lady Tsunade and I returned to Naruto's room, we find you in there, in direct violation of orders given to you by a superior while on duty! If anyone else had been responsible for that chart, I'd have done the exact same thing, not because I had anything to gain, but because reporting suspected malpractice is required by law and it was the right, moral and ethical thing to do. As far as my 'stealing Naruto's love', if that's how you see it…" Tsubaki waited for Sakura to look her in the eye before continuing, "…I only sought to comfort him through a time of intense grief – grief that you were made aware of before I was. I only sought to be there for him, and to help him, and things just went from there. Besides that, you don't love him or care for him, so what does it matter to you if he now loves me?"

"It felt good to be loved by someone! It made me feel…worth something…as a person," Sakura's voice lowered in volume as she finished.

"So all this time, you've only been using him for your own selfish ends, without a care of how it might hurt him or affect him in the end? Is that what you mean to tell me?" Tsubaki asked with a growl before continuing, "How can you even look at yourself in the mirror and not be disgusted with the person you see there? Shikamaru's right – you don't care about anyone but yourself. You never cared about Naruto, and the truth is you don't even love the Uchiha like you claim to! You only love what each of them represents to you, and frankly that's reprehensible! Maybe if you started genuinely caring about people other than yourself, without ulterior motives, you'd find yourself to be a lot less angry."

Sakura hung her head, shedding silent tears, her anger gone, replaced by shame. Tsubaki's words had apparently struck a very sensitive nerve, as she could say nothing in response.

"Well, now that that's over…" Tsunade responded, "…Shikamaru, Sakura, what do you have to report to me?"

Shikamaru gave his report concerning the encoded message that Jiraiya had sent back to the village. Apparently, the Cryptoanalysis Squad had made no progress in deciphering Jiraiya's hidden message, but they suggested that someone close to Jiraiya might know something that could be the key to the cipher. Tsunade informed him that she didn't know what it could be upon further examination of the picture, so Shikamaru would be tracking down either Kakashi or Naruto today.

Once he was finished with his report, Tsubaki responded, "Naruto's at my place, Shikamaru. You can find him there."

Tsunade interjected, "Actually Shikamaru, wait for a bit before going over there. Try Kakashi first. As you know, Naruto's going through what may well be the hardest time of his life, right now, as he's just lost one of the people who's most important to him."

Tsubaki added, "It's true – we were talking last night, and Jiraiya was the closest thing to a father that Naruto's ever…known…" Tsubaki trailed off, recalling her thoughts from earlier this morning, "…Father?"

Tsubaki turned her gaze to the portrait of Minato Namikaze that was hanging in the Hokage's office. She started studying his face, and narrowed her eyes.

"Wait just one minute…" she began, standing up and moving closer to the portrait. As she got closer, Sakura seemed confused as to what she was doing, while Shikamaru just watched, waiting to see what conclusion she might draw. Tsunade simply waited with bated breath, not wanting to give anything away. When Tsubaki was right in front of the portrait, she brought up a finger and began tracing three invisible whisker marks on each cheek.

Once she had the image in her mind's eye, she gasped and exclaimed in breathless shock, "My Kami, how could we have been so blind as to miss that?"

Tsunade was about to speak up, but Shikamaru beat her to it, "Hmm…I was wondering how long it would take for someone else to connect the dots."

"Figure what out?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"The Fourth Hokage," Tsubaki replied, whirling around to face Tsunade, pointing to the portrait behind her and speaking in an almost accusatory tone, "This is Naruto's father!"

Sakura snorted and laughed, "What? Are you kidding me?"

It didn't take long for Sakura to notice that she was the only one who found the claim amusing. She quieted down, and looked around before exclaiming, "Oh, come on! Don't tell me any of you really believe that?"

Tsunade turned to Shikamaru, "How did you figure it out, Shikamaru?"

Sakura gasped while Shikamaru answered, "Well, taking into consideration the fact that Naruto just happened to be born as the Nine-tails attacked Konoha, he just happened to be the baby that Naruto sealed the fox into, any and all family history about Naruto had been stricken from his records and classified, and the fact that Naruto and the Fourth Hokage look so much alike that a retarded sheep could see the resemblance? It wasn't really that hard to figure out."

Sakura was now plainly and openly embarrassed by her declaration. Tsubaki, already having realized that they should have seen it earlier, felt no further embarrassment, but seemed rather angry. Tsunade was impassive, though it was easy to see that her guard was up, and she was trying to anticipate any number of responses, particularly from the woman who loved Naruto.

Tsubaki was the first to respond, and she wasn't happy, "Tsunade, why has this been kept secret? Why hasn't Naruto been told? Why hasn't the village as a whole been told, for that matter?"

Tsunade paused for a few moments, closed her eyes, and looked at the other two occupants of the room.

Taking on a cold, firm tone, she instructed them, "Shikamaru, Sakura, you're dismissed. Leave the room and tell no one of what you've learned here in regards to Naruto's heritage, is that understood?"

"Err, yes, milady," Sakura responded nervously.

"Well, I've kept it to myself all this time, because I figured that those above my pay grade had a good reason for not saying anything; what's a little longer? Man, what a drag," Shikamaru replied in his usual bored deadpan. With that, both Sakura and Shikamaru left the office.

Once they were gone, Tsunade looked at Tsubaki and began with a flinted gaze, "Tsubaki, the only reason I'm even talking about this to you is because not only are you my closest friend, but you're also very important to Naruto as well. If it wasn't for my trust in you as a person, I wouldn't be telling you any of this. Now, I'm asking that you let me fully explain without interruption before asking questions and saying anything else. Can you do that?"

Tsubaki nodded, prompting Tsunade to begin her explanation, "We had our reasons for not revealing Naruto's heritage to the village. Both of his parents died that night. His father, as you know, was Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash of the Leaf. His mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero…" Tsubaki gasped at this, as Kushina Uzumaki had been another one of her heroes growing up.

"Now, the reason he was given his mother's maiden name was to protect him from the numerous enemies that both of his parents had made during the Third Great Shinobi War, as well as Minato's enemies within the village itself. As you know, the Hokage isn't always well-liked by everyone, and usually, the more popular a Hokage is with the people of the village, the more unpopular they tend to be with those in power – that's just how politics works. Minato was no exception to this. The reason why Naruto's status as a jinchuriki was disclosed was because his father's dying wish was for Naruto to be seen as a hero for protecting this village every day of his life simply by existing. In addition to that, the world at large knew of the Nine-Tails' attack and word that the Leaf had a jinchuriki of its own would serve as a deterrent to future invasion, especially since the Fox's attack greatly weakened the village militarily."

Tsunade sighed somberly before continuing, "Sadly, while attempts at invasion were in fact prevented by this knowledge being spread, the people didn't see Naruto as a hero. They saw him as a monster. The Third did all he could to keep Naruto safe by passing a law that did not allow open speech about Naruto's burden to those who didn't already know, particularly Naruto's own generation. Well, you've had a chance to catch glimpses of Naruto's life growing up, and you also hated him at one point, yourself, so you pretty well know the rest of the story."

Tsubaki sighed sadly herself and nodded, feeling ashamed of herself in a way that she hadn't in years. Recovering after a few moments, Tsubaki picked her head back up and looked Tsunade dead in the eye once more, "Okay, that explains why his heritage was never disclosed to the village while he was a child, but what about now?"

"We can't reveal his heritage to him or anyone else until we know that he's strong enough to protect himself…" Tsunade began, only to be interrupted this time.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade, but I don't buy that. I read the mission report about Naruto's defeat of Kakuzu of Akatsuki so that I could get a better picture of what Naruto had done to receive his injuries. If memory serves, Naruto defeated Kakuzu, an enemy that had not only overpowered Kakashi Hatake and two chunin with him, but who had actually fought the First Hokage and walked away to talk about it…and he did it by himself. So please, tell me, Tsunade, just how strong does Naruto need to be in order to be deemed sufficiently strong enough to protect himself?"

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, this time in resignation. Tsubaki caught on, narrowed her eyes and pressed further, "There's another reason, isn't there? One that's a little more personal?"

Tsunade, after a few seconds, nodded slowly.

"What's the real reason, Tsunade?" Tsubaki asked patiently.

"The truth is…" Tsunade began, before pausing as though struggling to get her answer out, "…the truth is that Naruto may well hate me for keeping this from him, and for not being there for him when I knew who his parents were. It's not something I've thought too much about lately, as he's only recently come into his own power, but…" she turned to her friend, with a sad, almost pleading look on her face, "…I don't know if I could handle losing him, Tsubaki. I love him – I can't help but think of him as my son, at times, and the idea of him never wanting to speak to me again…"

Tsunade's voice began to break as she trailed off. She hung her head, unable to finish the thought that had been on the tip of her tongue. Tsubaki, for her part, understood quite well what Tsunade's fear was. She walked around the desk to Tsunade's chair and wrapped her arms around the busty Hokage.

After a few moments, once Tsunade's composure had returned, Tsubaki let her go and expressed, "Tsunade, I'll talk to Naruto to prepare him for what you have to say. He'll listen to me. I'll even be here with you when you tell him for moral support – for both of you. But you need to have more faith in Naruto than that. You owe it to him to tell him about this. You owe it to him to tell the village about this. Even when it gets out that the Yellow Flash left an heir, Naruto's more than capable of protecting himself from any attempts against his life or his well-being."

Tsubaki continued after a few moments' pause, "Is there anything that his parents owned that was maybe left to Naruto in trust? He is the rightful owner of any property and holdings they had now as their only surviving heir. Mementos, property…jutsu?"

"His parents' jutsu are archived and locked away, so I can give him those, but no property or personal possessions of theirs survived the Nine-Tails' attack. Their home was destroyed, along with everything inside it. I'm pretty sure that I can track down any financial assets they might have had, but that'll take a while. If anything, I'm sure that the money's grown since it's been doing little more than sitting around in various banks for sixteen years. But the worst part of all of this is that I don't have mementos or anything to give to Naruto that might connect him with his parents as people."

"Maybe, you can talk to people who knew them and see if they have any pictures of them or something?" Tsubaki suggested.

Tsunade's eyes went wide as she looked up at her friend, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? I'm sure I still have some of my own, somewhere, actually!"

Tsunade suddenly pulled out some paper and began to list anyone who might have had some connection to either Minato Namikaze or Kushina Uzumaki.

"Err, Tsunade?" Tsubaki gently asked, grabbing the woman's attention.

"Yes, Tsubaki?"

"What do you want to do right now…as far as telling Naruto, I mean?"

"Well…" Tsunade pondered, "…as frightened as I am by the idea of how he might react when I do tell him, you're right. He does deserve to know. I'll tell him when Jiraiya's estate is executed to him."

"That sounds good. I'll do what I can to prepare him for it, but…" Tsubaki smiled knowingly, "…I think he might just surprise you by his reaction."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"Just wait and see," Tsubaki responded cryptically before turning to leave. She stopped at the door and turned back to Tsunade, "How would you like to have dinner with Naruto and me tonight? You two could share some Jiraiya stories…"

Tsunade chuckled, "You know, I think I'll take you up on that, Tsubaki. Your place? Seven or so?"

Tsubaki nodded and left Tsunade's office, leaving the woman to handle her paperwork.

* * *

Naruto awoke the following morning, having slept very fitfully. His conscious mind immediately flooded itself with thoughts and memories of his and Tsubaki's activities last night. He couldn't help the satisfied yet tired smile that crept across his face, accompanied by a blush when he remembered that she'd left her black silk stockings **on**. He opened his eyes to take in the visage of the woman that had enchanted him so over the last day and a half…only to find that she wasn't there.

His smile morphed into a confused frown. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around the room. There were no sounds inside the apartment, meaning that she might have stepped out for a bit. He then noticed a folded piece of paper on Tsubaki's pillow with his name on it. Curious, Naruto took the piece of paper and opened it, reading the contents of the note on it.

* * *

_Good morning, my Sunshine,_

_I stepped out to go to Tsunade's office so that I could get those pictures that Chouza took last night. I'll be back before noon so that we can get some lunch and spend the day together. I've made you some breakfast and put it in the oven to keep it warm for you. Please make yourself at home, okay?_

_Your Princess loves you,_

_Tsubaki_

_P.S. You were wonderful last night! ;)_

_XOXOX (hugs and kisses)_

* * *

Naruto smiled and chuckled at the note that Tsubaki left him. Despite the fact that he was currently grieving the loss of the man he'd come to love as a father, he couldn't ever remember a time where he'd been happier than he'd been in the last thirty-six or so hours. Tsubaki really was all he could have ever asked for in a woman…and then some! He found himself thanking whatever divinity had chosen to smile upon him when he or she had given him the woman that was now his angel.

He pulled himself out of bed and pulled his boxers on, heading to the kitchen to get his breakfast from the oven. Once he pulled it out, he turned the oven off and brought it to the table, taking in the mouth-watering aroma of Tsubaki's cooking before breaking his chopsticks and giving thanks. He dug in with gusto, the wonderful meal tasting just as delectable as it did yesterday when Tsubaki prepared the same thing for the two of them.

After breakfast, he showered and performed his morning hygiene rituals. Once he finished and dried off, he suddenly found himself feeling rather depressed. Now that he was by himself, his thoughts had drifted back to Jiraiya…and he found himself saddened, missing his master/father-figure. As he looked into the mirror, he realized that the only set of clothes he had with him was what he wore last night. While it certainly looked great for a date at night, it certainly wouldn't do for a shinobi to wear such clothing during the day, especially with how he typically travelled across the rooftops. The last thing he needed was his pants splitting mid-leap, and walking through the streets on a hot, muggy day in dressy clothing was not an activity that particularly appealed to him.

He decided that after he got dressed, he would head back to his apartment and change into his regular black and orange tracksuit. As he was putting his pants and shirt on, he heard the doorbell ring.

'_Who could that be?'_ he wondered as he moved to answer the door. When he opened the front door, he saw none other than Shikamaru Nara.

"Hey, Shikamaru. What's up? What do you want?" Naruto asked in greeting, somewhat tiredly.

Shikamaru raised a quizzical eyebrow at Naruto and asked, "Well, for starters…how's about letting me come in?"

"Actually, I'm about to head back to my place to hang these clothes up and change."

"Okay, so I'll come with you," Shikamaru insisted.

"Oh…okay, then," Naruto responded numbly as he exited Tsubaki's apartment and locked it before leading Shikamaru back to his own home. Not a word passed between the two of them on the trek to Naruto's apartment. The only time they stopped was when Naruto got sidetracked by a display stand for Make-Out Tactics. He simply stared at the books, and his mind was flooded with memories of Jiraiya once again. Suppressing the memories that threatened to overwhelm him, and the tears that came with them, he continued on his way to his apartment, Shikamaru following once more, this time with a raised eyebrow and a concerned frown.

Once they arrived, Naruto replaced his clothes. Shikamaru sat on the floor while Naruto sat on his bed. Shikamaru showed him the photograph of the numbers that had been burned into Fukusaku's back.

"Do these numbers mean anything to you?" Shikamaru inquired hopefully.

Naruto just seemed to space out as he stared blankly at the photograph, unresponsive to Shikamaru's inquiry.

"Hey…Naruto," Shikamaru spoke up, trying to draw his attention, "You still with me or what?"

Naruto continued to sit there, unmoving and unresponsive.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled out his name as he leaned forward, causing Naruto to flinch and gasp as he came back to the present moment.

"Oh…right. Sorry…" Naruto responded with an embarrassed chuckle before asking, "So…wha'd you say?"

"Awright…" Shikamaru began resignedly, "…you're coming with me; let's go," and with that, Shikamaru rose to his feet.

"To where?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Just come on."

"Wh-what?" Naruto stuttered in confusion.

Naruto, following Shikamaru's lead, found himself outside of Hidden Leaf hospital. He and Shikamaru were now standing out in front of the hospital, in the walled entryway to the grounds.

"Why'd you bring me **here**?" Naruto asked, just as confused as he was when they left his apartment.

"Just wait," Shikamaru instructed him, his annoyance leading to mild impatience when just a second later, they heard the main door open, "Ahh…there she is."

"Huh?" Naruto replied dumbly as he turned his gaze to one Kurenai Yuhi…whose stomach was quite a bit larger than he remembered it being.

"Huh? Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto blurted out in surprise.

"That's right," Shikamaru answered nonchalantly.

Naruto's first impulse was to ask how she'd gotten so fat, but remembering his conversation with Tsubaki about being more thoughtful, decided to voice it differently, "Ermmm…I'm gonna guess that you're not here due to indigestion or something, so, err…" he trailed off embarrassingly.

"She's pregnant, not overweight," Shikamaru retorted tiredly before continuing, "Oh boy…well, at least you're not as obnoxious as you used to be. I was half-expecting you to blurt out something like how she was hospitalized for eating too much barbeque or something."

Naruto could only blush and grin sheepishly while scratching the back of his head and chuckling.

"So, then…you mean, she's…" Naruto began as he turned back to the mother-to-be.

"Shikamaru," Kurenai began in good-natured annoyance, "You know…you don't have to come every time."

"Sorry. No can do," he responded with a knowing, almost-teasing smile, "Asuma made me promise him."

Kurenai simply smiled warmly and understandingly at Shikamaru. Naruto guessed that they'd had this conversation before, and probably would again, and it would probably end the same way every time. Naruto felt a strange sense of peace as he watched the pregnant beauty walking away from them.

"Shikamaru, what did Asuma-sensei ask you to do?"

"Their child will be my student," he answered, his jaw locked in place, showing his resolve to discharge that responsibility to the best of his ability.

"Huh?" Naruto gasped in surprise.

"I'm being serious. He entrusted me with that…" Shikamaru trailed off, turning his gaze forward and looking off into the distance, as if remembering the moment when Asuma gave him that charge.

"I heard about Master Jiraiya," he began anew after a few moments of silence, hoping that what he had to say would help Naruto get through this rough patch, "Having lost my teacher just like you, I understand exactly what you're going through right now."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and hung his head for a brief second before opening his eyes and turning his gaze towards Naruto, "But whining and sulking won't make things better."

Naruto glowered slightly at Shikamaru's seemingly harsh words.

Shikamaru continued in an even, calm tone, "Face it. Both of us are way past that point in our lives."

Naruto's glowering frown became a frown of confusion, "What do you mean?"

Shikamaru turned his gaze forward once more, "Asuma-sensei imparted a lot of knowledge to me. Some lessons were important, some not so much; it didn't matter. The same for you, right?" Naruto turned his gaze forward as he pondered the truth of Shikamaru's words, as Shikamaru pressed on, "And an infinite number of priceless things…"

Shikamaru let that sink in for a moment before continuing, "…so I think it's time for us to step up."

"How so?" Naruto asked, turning back to Shikamaru, intrigued at the idea.

"To stop being students, and become teachers," Shikamaru responded, with greater resolve and conviction than Naruto had ever heard from his friend.

Shikamaru turned back to Naruto with a smirk, "It's gonna be a drag, but we can't keep complaining…" Naruto now gave Shikamaru his undivided attention, hanging on every word, "Eventually, you'll be the one paying for the ramen…and someone will be calling you…'Naruto-sensei'."

Shikamaru took a few steps forward and turned around to stand face to face with Naruto, "After all, we can't stay brats, forever. Not if we want to become cool shinobi…like the type of shinobi that Asuma and Jiraiya both were," he winked at Naruto as he mentioned Asuma and Jiraiya.

Both of them were silent for several seconds, Shikamaru again letting his words sink in, Naruto unconsciously smiling as he thought about just how truly cool Jiraiya was.

"You're right…" Naruto responded, a serene smile on his face, "…Shikamaru…thank you."

Giving him a manly smile, Shikamaru added, "So pull yourself together…" he pulled out the photograph once more and finished, "…because you've got some work to do."

His determination restored, he looked Shikamaru dead in the eye with the fire in his own as he gave a manly smile in response, "Alright!"

* * *

**And that's a wrap for this chapter! Again, apologies for the length of time between updates. Also, "To Really Know Someone" is being worked on as well. Fight scenes do not come easily to me, so I have to really think about what I'm doing and what I want to happen in order to write them effectively. Battles take me a while, so please be patient with me. Please REVIEW, my friends!**


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